Auditory skills and neural encoding in children with speech sound disorder

To investigate binaural integration and temporal resolution auditory skills, measure parents' and/or guardians' perceptions of their dependents' auditory behavior, and analyze neural encoding in children with speech sound disorder (SSD).

The study included 28 children divided into two groups: 13 with SSD (mean age of 7 years) and 15 with typical speech development, matched for age with the study group. Auditory skills of binaural integration and temporal resolution were assessed. Parents and/or guardians completed the Auditory Processing Domains Questionnaire. Neural encoding was analyzed using the frequency following response with a /da/ stimulus, assessing amplitudes, absolute latencies, shifts, and the slope measure. The basic frequency analysis of the frequency following response employed the time-frequency distribution of the spectrogram. Inferential data analysis was conducted.

Statistically significant differences were observed in binaural integration auditory skills. However, no such differences were observed in temporal resolution. Parents and/or guardians reported changes in their dependents' auditory behavior in both groups. In the analysis of neural encoding, children with SSD showed higher latency in the O component, with a greater A-O shift. There was a positive correlation between the severity of SSD and the latency of the E component. The spectrogram analysis revealed greater neuronal excitation in the group with typical development.

Children diagnosed with SSD show alterations in binaural integration auditory skills and in the neural encoding of speech sounds.