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Reduced auditory processing capacity during vocalization in children with Selective Mutism
Miri Arie1, Yael Henkin, Dominique Lamy
1Adler Center for Research in Child Development and Psychopathology, Department of Psychology, Tel Aviv University, Israel.
Biological Psychiatry
|April 18, 2006
Summary
Children with Selective Mutism (SM) and abnormal Auditory Efferent Activity (AEA) show impaired auditory processing when speaking. This deficit is specific to hearing, not general task difficulty, impacting speech selectivity.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Speech-Language Pathology
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Abnormal Auditory Efferent Activity (AEA) is linked to vocal auditory distortions.
- Selective Mutism (SM) is a disorder characterized by a lack of speech in specific social situations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate auditory processing during vocalization in children with SM.
- To determine if auditory processing deficits are specific to the auditory modality in SM.
Main Methods:
- Compared auditory processing in children with SM (with and without abnormal AEA) and controls.
- Participants performed auditory detection tasks in silence and during vocalization (dual-task).
- A visual task during vocalization assessed specificity of the auditory-vocal deficit.
Main Results:
- Children with SM and abnormal AEA exhibited impaired auditory processing during vocalization compared to controls and SM children with normal AEA.
- The auditory deficit during vocalization was specific to the auditory modality.
- No general dual-tasking difficulties were observed.
Conclusions:
- Deficient auditory processing during vocalization is implicated in speech selectivity issues in Selective Mutism.
- Findings support a link between auditory processing and the etiology of SM.
