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Quantitative Assessment of Cortical Auditory-tactile Processing in Children with Disabilities
09:38

Quantitative Assessment of Cortical Auditory-tactile Processing in Children with Disabilities

Published on: January 29, 2014

Nature of auditory processing disorder in children

David R Moore1, Melanie A Ferguson, A Mark Edmondson-Jones

  • 1Medical Research Council Institute of Hearing Research, Nottingham, UK. davem@ihr.mrc.ac.uk

Pediatrics
|July 28, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Auditory processing disorder (APD) symptoms in children are not linked to sensory deficits but rather attention and cognitive abilities. These factors, especially response variability, better predict listening and communication skills in children with APD.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Audiology

Background:

  • Auditory processing disorder (APD) is often hypothesized to stem from sensory processing deficits.
  • Understanding the underlying mechanisms of APD is crucial for effective diagnosis and intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between auditory processing disorder (APD) presentation and sensory processing deficits in children.
  • To identify the key predictors of listening, communication, and speech-in-noise skills in children.

Main Methods:

  • A large cohort of 6- to 11-year-old children with normal hearing (N=1469) were assessed across multiple domains.
  • Evaluations included audiometry, auditory processing tests, speech-in-noise tasks, cognitive assessments (IQ, memory, language, literacy), and attention measures.
  • Specific auditory processing (AP) measures were used to differentiate sensory and non-sensory contributions.

Main Results:

  • Auditory processing (AP) abilities improved with age.
  • Poor AP performance correlated significantly with lower cognitive, communication, and speech-in-noise skills.
  • Sensory aspects of auditory perception showed weak relationships with performance measures; attention and cognitive scores were stronger predictors.

Conclusions:

  • Symptoms of auditory processing disorder (APD) are predominantly unrelated to auditory sensory processing deficits.
  • Response variability and cognitive performance emerged as the strongest predictors of poor communication and listening skills.
  • APD is suggested to be primarily an attention-related issue, guiding future clinical approaches and research.
Abstract

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