Atypical function of auditory sensory gating in children with developmental dyslexia: Investigating its relationship with cognitive abilities.

Impairments of auditory processing are among frequent findings in dyslexia. However, it is unclear how auditory signals are gated from brainstem to higher central processing stages in these individuals. The present study was done to investigate auditory sensory gating in children with developmental dyslexia (DD), and to determine whether sensory gating correlates with performance on behavioural tasks. Auditory sensory gating at P50, N1 and P2 waves was evaluated in two groups including 20 children with DD and 19 children with typical reading development (TRD). Behavioural tests were used to evaluate phonological working memory (PWM) and selective attention abilities. Sensory gating in children with DD was significantly less efficient than their peers at P50, N1 and P2 waves. Lower auditory evoked potential (AEP) amplitudes were found in the DD group. The children with TRD scored better in all the behavioural tests. Relationships were reported between sensory gating at P50, N1, P2 and behavioural performance in the two groups. Children with dyslexia had deficient sensory gating in comparison with controls. In addition, children with dyslexia experienced problems with PWM and selective attention tasks. The function of sensory gating was associated with attentional and PWM performances in this group.

Comparing Sound-Field Speech-Auditory Brainstem Response Components between Cochlear Implant Users with Different Speech Recognition in Noise Scores.

Objectives: Many studies have suggested that cochlear implant (CI) users vary in terms of speech recognition in noise. Studies in this field attribute this variety partly to subcortical auditory processing. Studying speech-Auditory Brainstem Response (speech-ABR) provides good information about speech processing; thus, this work was designed to compare speech-ABR components between two groups of CI users with good and poor speech recognition in noise scores. Materials & Methods: The present study was conducted on two groups of CI users aged 8-10 years old. The first group (CI-good) consisted of 15 children with prelingual CI who had good speech recognition in noise performance. The second group (CI-poor) was matched with the first group, but they had poor speech recognition in noise performance. The speech-ABR test in a sound-field presentation was performed for all the participants. Results: The speech-ABR response showed more delay in C, D, E, F, O latencies in CI-poor than CI-good users (P <0.05), meanwhile no significant difference was observed in initial wave (V(t= -0.293, p= 0.771 and A (t= -1.051, p= 0.307). Analysis in spectral-domain showed a weaker representation of fundamental frequency as well as the first formant and high-frequency component of speech stimuli in the CI users with poor auditory performance. Conclusions: Results revealed that CI users who showed poor auditory performance in noise performance had deficits in encoding the periodic portion of speech signals at the brainstem level. Also, this study could be as physiological evidence for poorer pitch processing in CI users with poor speech recognition in noise performance.

Eye movement patterns in Iranian dyslexic children compared to non-dyslexic children.

OBJECTIVE: Dyslexia is the most common learning disorder that affects 5-10% of school aged children. Eye movement abnormalities and visual processing deficits have been reported in some of dyslexic children. Objective of this study is to compare the eye-movement patterns of Iranian dyslexic children with those of non-dyslexic children as they perform the oculomotor tests and to explore the relationship between their eye-movement patterns and their reading ability. METHODS: Binocular eye movements were recorded by oculomotor subtype of videonystagmography (VNG) testing on 30 dyslexic children and 20 non-dyslexic age-matched children (aged 8-12) in both genders. Dyslexic children were diagnosed with DSM-V scale by experts in reading disorder centers. Gain of the pursuit and optokinetic tests and the latency, accuracy and velocity of the saccade test were measured in both groups of dyslexic and non-dyslexic children. The independent samples t-test, Chi-square test and linear regression test in SPSS v. 21 were used to analyze behavioral and eye-movement parameters. RESULTS: Compared to the non-dyslexic group, dyslexic children presented lower gain in pursuit and optokinetic tests, and increased latency with decreased accuracy in saccade test. All behavioral and eye-movement parameters without saccade velocity differed significantly among two groups. CONCLUSION: The atypical eye movement patterns observed in dyslexic children suggests a deficiency in the visual information processing and an immaturity of brain structures responsible for oculomotor skills.

Effects of rehabilitation training on an elderly population with mild to moderate hearing loss: study protocol for a randomised clinical trial.

Background: Age-related hearing loss (presbycusis) is a form of hearing loss in over 60-years-olds and has a negative impact on quality of life. Presbycusis is multifactorial and is predominately characterised with a loss of speech perception in noise. In the cochlea, auditory filters decompose broadband sound into a series of narrowband output signals, which contains two kinds of temporal information: slow changes in overall amplitude envelope (ENV) and faster variations in temporal fine structure (TFS). TFS is important for recognition of target speech in noise. The main aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of TFS rehabilitation training in participants over the age of 60 years with mild to moderate hearing loss. Methods: A randomised clinical trial  conducted on 30 participants with mild (loss of 20-39dB HL) to moderate (40-69dB HL) hearing loss, aged between 60 and 75 years old. Participants with conductive hearing loss, abnormal middle ear pathology and central nervous system disease were excluded. Participants were selected randomly  to an intervention and control group with a 1:1 ratio. Rehabilitation for the intervention Group are 30-minute sessions three times a week for a total five weeks of vowel consonant vowel words that are used to eliminate ENV and keep only TFS. Word in noise test, binaural TFS test, and Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale scores are performed at the beginning and end of study to evaluate the effect of rehabilitation training. Conclusion:  Life expectancy in the elderly has improved, leading to an increased prevalence of age-related diseases including presbycusis. A literature review highlighted that TFS damage is permanent; however, in this study we will attempt to prove that TFS training may lead to speech in noise perception improvement. Trial registration: Registry of Clinical Trials, IRCT2019625044006N1 (7 th August 2019).

A New Speech-in-Noise Test for Measuring Informational Masking in Speech Perception Among Elderly Listeners.

Introduction Elderly listeners have reported concerns about speech perception in noisy environments. This partly occurs because of their increased informational masking (IM). This study aimed to develop a Persian coordinate response measure (CRM) corpus and a novel speech-in-noise test for measuring IM. Material and methods A cross-sectional validation study was conducted in two parts. Part one was the determination of the validity and reliability of the Persian CRM corpus. Part two consisted of measuring the IM at five signal-to-noise ratio (SNR; -6,-3, 0, +3, and +6) in two conditions: one with the target and masker speaker of the same sex and one with the target and masker speaker of different sexes. In each condition, the IM measurements were performed at a 45° separation angle of target and maskers and as a co-location of the speakers. A group of young listeners aged 20 to 40 years and a group of elderly listeners aged 60 to 75 years were recruited (50 study participants in part one and 47 in part two). The study was conducted from July 2018 to March 2019 at the Iran University Medical Sciences audiology clinic. Content validity ratio, content validity index, impact score, Spearman's test, and Mann-Whitney's test were used for statistical analysis. Results The Persian CRM corpus showed acceptable validity and reliability in each group (p < 0.001). The results suggested that in both azimuth locations and at SNRs of 0, -3, and -6, the IM amount in the elderly group was significantly higher (p < 0.003) than in the young group at conditions of target and masker speakers of opposite-sex. However, in cases where both target and masker speakers were of the same sex, a significant difference was observed at an SNR of 0 in angular separation and SNRs of +3 and 0 at co-located situations (p < 0.001). Conclusion A validated Persian CRM corpus has been collected for use in IM measurement studies. Overall, the IM of elderly listeners was higher than younger listeners in low-cue situations such as lower SNR. Therefore, a novel speech-in-noise test for measuring IM was validated to use in speech perception studies in the elderly population.

The investigation of semantic memory deficit in chronic tinnitus: a behavioral report / Investigação do déficit de memória semântica no zumbido crônico: um relato comportamental

Abstract Introduction: Tinnitus is a central auditory disorder in which different processing systems are involved as a network. One of these networks is memory. Previous studies have demonstrated some deficits in various types of memory in chronic tinnitus. Objectives: The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the semantic memory, which is not yet investigated in the tinnitus population. Methods: In this case-control study, 15 subjects with chronic tinnitus and 16 matched healthy controls were included. 40 semantically related and 40 semantically unrelated word pairs were presented to the participants in a counter-balanced fashion. They were asked to make decision about their semantic relatedness. Then the participants' reaction times and the accuracy of responses were calculated. Results: Mean of reaction times were significantly longer in the tinnitus group (M = 1034 ms, SD = 0.31) compared to the control group (Mean = 1016 ms, SD = 0.13), p < 0.05. However, no significant difference was found for the mean percentage of correct responses between the two groups. Conclusion: The current study provided behavioral evidence that chronic tinnitus can affect the semantic memory. Such behavioral outcomes may provide new insights into more research activities in the field of electrophysiology and neuroimaging in the tinnitus population.

Resumo Introdução: O zumbido é um distúrbio auditivo central, no qual diferentes sistemas de processamento estão envolvidos como em uma rede. Uma dessas redes é a memória. Estudos anteriores demonstraram alguns déficits em vários tipos de memória no zumbido crônico. Objetivos: Investigar a memória semântica, que ainda não foi investigada na população com zumbido. Método: Neste estudo de caso-controle, 15 indivíduos com zumbido crônico e 16 controles saudáveis pareados foram incluídos; 40 pares de palavras semanticamente relacionados e 40 semanticamente não relacionados foram apresentados aos participantes de forma contrabalançada. Eles foram instruídos a tomar decisões sobre sua relação semântica. Em seguida, os tempos de reação dos participantes e a precisão das respostas foram calculados. Resultados: A média dos tempos de reação foi significativamente maior no grupo com zumbido (M = 1,034 ms, DP = 0,31) em comparação ao grupo controle (média = 1,016 ms, DP = 0,13), p< 0,05. Entretanto, nenhuma diferença significante foi encontrada para a porcentagem média de respostas corretas entre os dois grupos. Conclusão: O presente estudo forneceu evidências comportamentais de que o zumbido crônico pode afetar a memória semântica. Tais resultados comportamentais podem levar a novas percepções em mais atividades de pesquisa no campo da eletrofisiologia e neuroimagem na população com zumbido.

Development, validity, reliability and normative data of the Persian Phonemic Synthesis Test (P-PST).

Objectives: This study was conducted to develop the Persian version of the Phonemic Synthesis Test, evaluate its psychometric properties and generate normative data.Design: Test development, including the optimisation of materials, determining content and face validities and assessing the psychometric properties.Study samples: Overall, 425 subjects participated in this study in three different stages. Ten experts participated in the content validity assessment stage. The face validity was determined by taking the views of 17 subjects, including children diagnosed with APD, normal children and experts. The psychometric properties were evaluated with 395 normal children aged 7 to 11, divided into five age groups. All the participants were retested after four weeks for evaluating the test-retest reliability.Results: The results revealed the strong content and face validity of the test. No significant differences were observed between the genders. Significant differences were observed in the quantitative and qualitative scores among the age groups. The Spearman correlation coefficient showed that the scores of the test and retest were strongly and positively correlated (r > 0.9). The findings showed many similarities with the data reported in the original American English Phonemic Synthesis Test.Conclusions: The Persian Phonemic Synthesis Test is a reliable and valid test for auditory processing assessments in Persian-speaking children.

The investigation of semantic memory deficit in chronic tinnitus: a behavioral report.

INTRODUCTION: Tinnitus is a central auditory disorder in which different processing systems are involved as a network. One of these networks is memory. Previous studies have demonstrated some deficits in various types of memory in chronic tinnitus. OBJECTIVES: The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the semantic memory, which is not yet investigated in the tinnitus population. METHODS: In this case-control study, 15 subjects with chronic tinnitus and 16 matched healthy controls were included. 40 semantically related and 40 semantically unrelated word pairs were presented to the participants in a counter-balanced fashion. They were asked to make decision about their semantic relatedness. Then the participants' reaction times and the accuracy of responses were calculated. RESULTS: Mean of reaction times were significantly longer in the tinnitus group (M=1034ms, SD=0.31) compared to the control group (Mean=1016ms, SD=0.13), p<0.05. However, no significant difference was found for the mean percentage of correct responses between the two groups. CONCLUSION: The current study provided behavioral evidence that chronic tinnitus can affect the semantic memory. Such behavioral outcomes may provide new insights into more research activities in the field of electrophysiology and neuroimaging in the tinnitus population.

Sound-Field Speech Evoked Auditory Brainstem Response in Cochlear-Implant Recipients.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Currently limited information is available on speech stimuli processing at the subcortical level in the recipients of cochlear implant (CI). Speech processing in the brainstem level is measured using speech-auditory brainstem response (S-ABR). The purpose of the present study was to measure the S-ABR components in the sound-field presentation in CI recipients, and compare with normal hearing (NH) children. Subjects and. METHODS: In this descriptive-analytical study, participants were divided in two groups: patients with CIs; and NH group. The CI group consisted of 20 prelingual hearing impairment children (mean age=8.90 ± 0.79 years), with ipsilateral CIs (right side). The control group consisted of 20 healthy NH children, with comparable age and sex distribution. The S-ABR was evoked by the 40-ms synthesized /da/ syllable stimulus that was indicated in the sound-field presentation. RESULTS: Sound-field S-ABR measured in the CI recipients indicated statistically significant delayed latencies, than in the NH group. In addition, these results demonstrated that the frequency following response peak amplitude was significantly higher in CI recipients, than in the NH counterparts (p<0.05). Finally, the neural phase locking were significantly lower in CI recipients (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of sound-field S-ABR demonstrated that CI recipients have neural encoding deficits in temporal and spectral domains at the brainstem level; therefore, the sound-field S-ABR can be considered an efficient clinical procedure to assess the speech process in CI recipients.

The Relationship between Auditory Sensory Gating and Cognitive Functions on Auditory and Visual Modalities in Primary School Children.

OBJECTIVES: Considering the common neurological origins, there is a relationship between the sensory gating and cognitive functions. However, there is no adequate information on this issue. In this study, auditory event-related potentials and the sensory gating performance were assessed in P50, N100 and P200 waves. Besides, their relationship with cognitive performance in auditory and visual modalities was investigated. MATERIALS & METHODS: Nineteen normal primary school students (14 boys) were tested in Tehran, Iran from 2017 to 2018. In the auditory modality, the Persian version of the non-word repetition test and monaural selective auditory attention test (mSAAT) were used for assessment of the working memory and selective attention, respectively. In order to evaluate the visual working memory and visual selective attention, Rey-Osterrieth complex figure, selective and divided attention test were used, respectively. A 32-channel EEG system was used for electrophysiological assessment. RESULTS: The P50 sensory gating was negatively correlated with the visual selective attention (P=0.034, r=-0.49) and N100 sensory gating was negatively correlated with the auditory working memory (P=0.043, r=-0.48) as well as visual selective attention (P=0.039, r=-0.47). For P200, there was a significant negative relationship with auditory selective attention in the right ear (P=0.034, r=-0.49). CONCLUSION: Sensory gating in children is not a modality-specific phenomenon. Sensory gating in a modality could be associated with cognitive functions in other modalities.

The effects of auditory spatial training on informational masking release in elderly listeners: a study protocol for a randomized clinical trial.

Background: Regarding the strong auditory spatial plasticity capability of the central auditory system and the effect of short-term and long-term rehabilitation programs in elderly people, it seems that an auditory spatial training can help this population in informational masking release and better track speech in noisy environments. The main purposes of this study are developing an informational masking measurement test and an auditory spatial training program. Protocol: This study will be conducted in two parts. Part 1: develop and determine the validity of an informational masking measurement test by recruiting two groups of young (n=50) and old (n=50) participants with normal hearing who have no difficulty in understanding speech in noisy environments. Part 2 (clinical trial): two groups of 60-75-year-olds with normal hearing, who complain about difficulty in speech perception in noisy environments, will participate as control and intervention groups to examine the effect of auditory spatial training. Intervention: 15 sessions of auditory spatial training. The informational masking measurement test and Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale will be compared before intervention, immediately after intervention, and five weeks after intervention between the two groups. Discussion: Since auditory training programs do not deal with informational masking release, an auditory spatial training will be designed, aiming to improve hearing in noisy environments for elderly populations. Trial registration: Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials ( IRCT20190118042404N1) on 25 th February 2019.

Story retelling skills in Persian speaking hearing-impaired children.

OBJECTIVES: Since the pragmatic skills of hearing-impaired Persian-speaking children have not yet been investigated particularly through story retelling, this study aimed to evaluate some pragmatic abilities of normal-hearing and hearing-impaired children using a story retelling test. METHODS: 15 normal-hearing and 15 profound hearing-impaired 7-year-old children were evaluated using the story retelling test with the content validity of 89%, construct validity of 85%, and reliability of 83%. Three macro structure criteria including topic maintenance, event sequencing, explicitness, and four macro structure criteria including referencing, conjunctive cohesion, syntax complexity, and utterance length were assessed. The test was performed with live voice in a quiet room where children were then asked to retell the story. The tasks of the children were recorded on a tape, transcribed, scored and analyzed. RESULTS: In the macro structure criteria, utterances of hearing-impaired students were less consistent, enough information was not given to listeners to have a full understanding of the subject, and the story events were less frequently expressed in a rational order than those of normal-hearing group (P < 0.0001). Regarding the macro structure criteria of the test, unlike the normal-hearing students who obtained high scores, hearing-impaired students failed to gain any scores on the items of this section. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that Hearing-impaired children were not able to use language as effectively as their hearing peers, and they utilized quite different pragmatic functions.

Oculomotor rehabilitation in children with dyslexia.

Background: Dyslexia is the most common learning disorder. Visual and oculomotor deficits in dyslexic children have been reported. The purpose of this study was to measure oculomotor parameters and analyze the effect of oculomotor rehabilitation strategies on dyslexia. Methods: Binocular eye movements were recorded by oculomotor subtype of videonystagmography (VNG) testing on 30 children with dyslexia and 20 typical reader children (aged 8-12) in both genders. Dyslexic children were diagnosed with DSM-V scale by experts in reading disorder centers. We studied those children with developmental dyslexia, who had deficits in eye movements recording. Dyslexic children were divided into 2 groups of case and control. Oculomotor rehabilitation (including fixation, saccade, and tracking training) was performed in case group for 1 hour, twice weekly for 8 weeks. Before the intervention, results of oculomotor tests were compared between 3 groups (healthy, case, and control). Then, to analyze the effect of the intervention, results of oculomotor tests were compared between case and control groups in pre- and post- intervention stage. Data were analyzed by independent and paired samples t tests, ANOVA, and repeated measures tests in SPSS v. 21. Results: There were significant differences in oculomotor characteristics of dyslexic children in comparison with those reported in typical children. Oculomotor rehabilitation intervention had a positive effect on improvement of oculomotor responses and eye movements in dyslexic children. Moreover, there was no statistically significant difference between dyslexic children and non-dyslexic children in oculomotor skills after the training. Conclusion: Our results showed the positive effects of oculomotor rehabilitation on eye movements. Primary oculomotor assessment in dyslexic children and early use of oculomotor rehabilitation combined with other treatments are highly recommended.

Translation, validity, and reliability of a persian version of the iowa tinnitus handicap questionnaire.

INTRODUCTION: Tinnitus is a common otologic symptom that can seriously affect a patient's quality of life. The purpose of the present study was to translate and validate the Iowa Tinnitus Handicap Questionnaire (THQ) into the Persian language, and to make it applicable as a tool for determining the effects of tinnitus on a patient's life. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The main version of the THQ was translated into the Persian language. The agreed Persian version was administered to 150 tinnitus patients. The validity of the Persian THQ was evaluated and internal reliability was confirmed using Cronbach's α-coefficient. Finally, the effect of independent variables such as age, mean patient threshold, gender, and duration of tinnitus were considered in order to determine the psychometric properties of tinnitus. RESULTS: After an exact translation process, the Persian THQ was found to exhibit face validity. In terms of content validity, content validity index in total questionnaire was 0.93. Further, in structural validity measurements, intermediate correlation with annoyance from tinnitus (r=0.49), low correlation with duration of tinnitus (r=0.34) and high correlation with the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) questionnaire (r=0.84) were demonstrated. Additionally, a negligible effect of gender and age was noted on degree of tinnitus handicap (P= 0.754, P= 0.573, respectively). In the internal reliability assessment for Factors 1, 2, 3, and the whole questionnaire, Cronbach`s α-coefficient was 0.95, 0.92, 0.25 and 0.88, respectively. CONCLUSION: The Persian version of the Iowa THQ demonstrates high validity and reliability and can be used for the determination of tinnitus handicap and for following-up in the intervention process in Persian tinnitus patients.