Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 8, 2025

Morphological and Functional Evaluation of Ribbon Synapses at Specific Frequency Regions of the Mouse Cochlea
Published on: May 10, 2019
Study of the peripheral and central auditory pathways in patients with mucopolysaccharidosis
Flávia Teixeira Chimelo1, Liliane Aparecida Fagundes Silva1, Ivone Ferreira Neves-Lobo1
1Department of Physical, Speech-Language-Hearing, and Occupational Therapy of the Medical School at the University of São Paulo (FMUSP), R. Cipotânea, 51, Cidade Universitária, São Paulo, SP CEP: 05360-160, Brazil.
Objective:
To investigate the peripheral and central auditory pathways in mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) individuals.
Method:
The research sample comprised 15 individuals (one female and 14 males), aged 8 to 46 years. The following procedures were used: medical history survey, otoscopy, speech and pure-tone threshold audiometry, acoustic immittance measures, and central auditory pathway assessment with brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP) and long-latency auditory evoked potentials (LLAEP).
Results:
The pure-tone audiometry identified hearing loss in 13 individuals, and more than 90 % of the hearing loss was sensorineural. The degree of hearing loss was between mild to moderately severe with descendent configuration. Type A tympanogram predominated, and acoustic reflexes were present according to the types and degrees of hearing loss. Among the individuals with abnormal BAEP, longer wave III and V absolute latencies were the main findings. In addition, the unilateral absence of wave I was observed in two cases. In the LLAEP, longer latencies were observed in 14 individuals, and the most impaired components were the P1 and P3 in children and adolescents and the P2, N2 and P3 in adult individuals.
Conclusion:
The peripheral auditory pathway assessment revealed a predominantly sensorineural hearing loss, affecting mainly high frequencies, and in the central pathway was observed abnormal brainstem and cortical auditory processing in individuals with MPS.

