Reduced bilateral auditory cortex activation during pure-tone perception in pediatric HIV.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Pediatrics
• Infectious Diseases

Background:

• Children with perinatally acquired HIV (CPHIV) face neurodevelopmental risks, including hearing impairments.
• Antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation has reduced but not eliminated these risks.
• Central auditory system function in CPHIV is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate central auditory processing in children with perinatally acquired HIV.
• To compare auditory cortex responses between CPHIV and HIV-uninfected children.
• To understand how HIV impacts neural responses to sound.

Main Methods:

• Functional MRI (fMRI) was used to measure brain activity.
• 108 11-year-old children (60 CPHIV, 48 controls) participated.
• Participants listened to pure tones at 500 Hz, 1,500 Hz, and 4,000 Hz.

Main Results:

• CPHIV had slightly poorer hearing sensitivity but no difference in diagnosed hearing loss prevalence.
• Both groups showed auditory cortex activation, decreasing with higher frequencies.
• CPHIV exhibited significantly reduced bilateral auditory cortex responses compared to controls.

Conclusions:

• CPHIV on ART show altered central auditory processing despite normal peripheral hearing.
• These auditory cortex differences suggest vulnerability in the central auditory system.
• Central auditory system alterations may contribute to neurodevelopmental challenges in CPHIV.