Auditory Processing in Stuttering Children: Behavioral and Electrophysiological Assessments

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Audiology
• Speech-Language Pathology

Background:

• Stuttering is a communication disorder involving speech flow disruptions.
• Neuroaudiological and behavioral assessments are crucial for understanding stuttering's underlying mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare central auditory system function in children who stutter versus fluent children.
• To investigate differences using electrophysiological and behavioral auditory assessments.

Main Methods:

• 18 children who stutter and 18 fluent children were evaluated.
• Methods included audiometry, acoustic immittance, brainstem auditory evoked potentials, long-latency auditory evoked potentials, cognitive potentials, and auditory processing tests (RGDT, DDT, DPT, PSI, MLD).
• The Scale of Auditory Behaviors (SAB) questionnaire was also administered.

Main Results:

• Children who stutter showed prolonged P2 and P3 wave latencies compared to fluent children.
• A smaller P3 amplitude was observed in children who stutter.
• Significant alterations were found in the Dichotic Digit Test (DDT) and Duration Pattern Test (DPT), with correlations between P2/P3 latency and SAB scores.

Conclusions:

• Children who stutter demonstrate reduced central auditory processing abilities.
• These auditory deficits are evident in both psychophysical tests and behavioral questionnaires (SAB).