Temporal and Fronto-Central Auditory Evoked Responses in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders: A Scoping Review

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Auditory Neuroscience
• Developmental Neuroscience

Background:

• The central auditory neural system (CANS) comprises primary and secondary cortical areas.
• Research predominantly examines fronto-central auditory evoked potentials (P1-N1-P2) from primary auditory areas.
• Neural processing in secondary auditory areas remains less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate and compare fronto-central and T-complex responses in neurodevelopmental disorder populations.
• To identify auditory dysfunction markers in at-risk individuals.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature search of PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Ovid.
• Inclusion of ten studies across six neurodevelopmental disorders.
• Analysis of fronto-central and T-complex auditory evoked responses.

Main Results:

• All studied populations exhibited atypical T-complex responses (absent, shorter latency, or smaller amplitude).
• Dyslexia and ADHD groups showed abnormal T-complex responses despite normal fronto-central responses.
• This dissociation suggests differential sensitivity of the two response types.

Conclusions:

• T-complex responses are more sensitive than fronto-central responses for detecting auditory processing deficits in specific neurodevelopmental disorders.
• The T-complex may index distinct auditory processing deficits not captured by fronto-central measures.
• This finding supports the T-complex's utility in understanding auditory dysfunction in neurodevelopmental conditions.