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Updated: Jul 16, 2026
Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations
Published on: July 1, 2015
Left temporal impairment of auditory information processing in prematurely born 9-year-old children: an
Marie Gomot1, Nicole Bruneau, Jean-Paul Laurent
1INSERM U619, Université François-Rabelais, CHRU de Tours, Service Universitaire d'Explorations Fonctionnelles et Neurophysiologie en Pédopsychiatrie, Tours, France. m.gomot@chu-tours.fr
Insights
Children born preterm may have subtle auditory processing deficits. Our study found reduced obligatory sensory responses (N250) in preterm children, suggesting potential impacts on attention and perception development.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Auditory Neuroscience
Background:
- Children born preterm often experience cognitive difficulties impacting education.
- Understanding long-term neuropathological effects of preterm birth is crucial.
- Mild cognitive disorders may stem from deficits in basic functions like attention and perception.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate long-term neuropathological processes in preterm-born children.
- To explore the link between mild cognitive disorders and deficits in auditory attention and perception.
- To assess auditory pre-attentive processing using specific electrophysiological responses.
Main Methods:
- Electrophysiological assessment of auditory pre-attentive processes (obligatory sensory response N250, Mismatch Negativity MMN).
- Topographic study of responses in 15 preterm children (27-33 weeks gestational age) and 15 term-born controls at age 9.
- Auditory stimuli: standard 1000 Hz tones and deviant 1100 Hz tones (15%) with a 700 ms interval.
Main Results:
- Mismatch Negativity (MMN) was comparable between preterm and term-born children.
- Preterm children exhibited significantly smaller N250 wave amplitudes.
- Scalp current density maps indicated reduced frontal and left supratemporal generator activity in preterm children.
Conclusions:
- Preterm birth is associated with altered auditory processing, specifically in the N250 response.
- Reduced N250 amplitude suggests impaired auditory processing related to prematurity.
- These auditory processing differences may affect the development of higher cognitive functions.
Abstract:
Children born preterm more than average display cognitive difficulties that are significant enough to prevent normal schooling. The aim of our study was to provide better understanding of the long-term neuropathological processes associated with preterm injury, through the hypothesis that mild cognitive disorders might be related to slight deficits in primary functions such as attention and perception. Assessment of auditory pre-attentive processes was performed by recording the obligatory sensory response (N250) and the change-detection response (Mismatch Negativity, MMN). Topographic study of these responses was performed in fifteen 9-year-old children born preterm (27-33 weeks gestational age) matched to fifteen control children born at term. The auditory stimulus sequence consisted of 1000 Hz standard and 1100 Hz deviant tones (15%) delivered binaurally with an interstimulus interval of 700 ms. The results showed that MMN was similar in both groups. Analysis of the responses to standard repetitive tones demonstrated significantly smaller N250 wave amplitude in children born preterm. Scalp current density maps showed that this reduction in amplitude was associated with lower activity of both frontal and left supratemporal generators. Although the functional significance of the N250 wave in children remains to be clarified, our results indicate a disorder of auditory processes related to prematurity that might have consequences on the development of higher-level processes.
