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Quantitative Assessment of Cortical Auditory-tactile Processing in Children with Disabilities
Published on: January 29, 2014
Neural processing of speech in noise recognition in preschool children with different auditory processing abilities:
Panting Liu1, Wenmin Wang1, Jia Zhou2
1Department of Child Health Care, Women's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University (Nanjing Women and Children's Healthcare Hospital), Nanjing, Jiangsu, China; School of Nursing, Nanjing Medical University, China.
Insights
Children with auditory processing (AP) deficits show reduced brain activity in key language areas during speech recognition tasks. This highlights neurological differences impacting auditory comprehension in noisy environments.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Speech and Hearing Sciences
Background:
- Auditory processing (AP) abilities are crucial for language development in preschool children.
- Deficits in AP can impact academic and social functioning.
- Understanding the neural underpinnings of AP deficits is essential for early intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate differences in brain oxyhemoglobin concentrations using fNIRS between preschool children with and without auditory processing deficits.
- To examine neural activation patterns during a speech recognition task under varying auditory conditions.
Main Methods:
- Utilized functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure cerebral hemodynamic responses.
- Included 36 children with AP deficits and 52 typically developing (TD) children, screened using the Preschool Auditory Processing Assessment Scale (PAPAS).
- Administered a speech recognition task in both noisy and silent conditions.
Main Results:
- Children with AP deficits demonstrated lower speech recognition accuracy in noisy conditions compared to TD children.
- TD children showed significant activation in bilateral temporal and right frontal regions during speech-in-noise tasks.
- Children with AP deficits exhibited significantly lower activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus, right superior temporal gyrus, and right middle temporal gyrus compared to TD children.
Conclusions:
- Preschool children with AP deficits exhibit distinct patterns of neural activation in language-related brain regions.
- These findings suggest that impaired auditory processing is associated with reduced engagement of specific cortical areas during complex listening tasks.
- fNIRS can identify neurophysiological differences related to AP abilities in young children.
Abstract:
This study aims to investigate differences in brain oxyhemoglobin concentrations among preschool children with varying auditory processing (AP) abilities, as screened by the Preschool Auditory Processing Assessment Scale (PAPAS). The study selected 36 children with AP deficits and 52 typically developing (TD) children as subjects, all screened using the PAPAS. An fNIRS system measured cerebral hemodynamic responses during a speech recognition task performed under noisy and silent conditions. Behavioral results from the fNIRS task showed that children with AP deficits exhibited lower accuracy in speech recognition under noisy conditions compared with TD children. Region of interest activation analysis at the group level revealed significant activation in the left superior temporal gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, right inferior frontal gyrus, right superior temporal gyrus, and right middle temporal gyrus in TD children during the speech-in-noise recognition task. In contrast, children with AP deficits did not show significant activation in these regions at the group level. Comparative analyses indicated that activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus, right superior temporal gyrus, and right middle temporal gyrus was significantly lower in the AP deficits group than in the TD group.
