Auditory processing in children and adolescents in situations of risk and vulnerability

CONTEXTO E OBJETIVO: Crianças e adolescentes que vivem em situação de vulnerabilidade social apresentam uma série de problemas de saúde. Apesar disso, ainda é controversa a afirmação sobre a existência de alterações cognitivas e/ou sensoriais. O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar aspectos relacionados ao processamento auditivo, através da aplicação de testes de potencial evocado auditivo de tronco encefálico (PEATE) e avaliação comportamental do processamento auditivo em crianças em situação de rua, comparando a um grupo controle. TIPO DE ESTUDO E LOCAL: Estudo transversal no Laboratório de Processamento Auditivo, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo. MÉTODOS: Os testes de processamento auditivo foram aplicados em um grupo de 27 indivíduos, subdivididos em grupos de 11 crianças (7 a 10 anos) e 16 adolescentes (11 a 16 anos) de ambos os sexos, em situação de vulnerabilidade social, e comparado a um grupo controle, formado por 21 crianças, subdivididas em grupos de 10 crianças e 11 adolescentes, pareados por idade, sem queixas. Também se aplicou os PEATE para investigação da integridade da via auditiva. RESULTADOS: Para ambas as faixas etárias, foram encontradas diferenças significantes entre grupos estudo e controle para a maioria dos testes aplicados, sendo que o grupo estudo apresentou desempenho estatisticamente pior do que o controle para todos os testes, exceto para o teste pediatric speech intelligibility. Apenas uma criança apresentou resultado alterado para os PEATE. CONCLUSÕES: Os resultados demonstraram pior desempenho do grupo estudo (crianças e adolescentes) para os testes comportamentais de processamento auditivo, apesar de estes apresentarem integridade da via auditiva em nível de tronco encefálico, demonstrada pela normalidade nos resultados do PEATE.

TEMPORAL COUPLING BETWEEN EXTERNAL AUDITORY INFORMATION AND THE PHASES OF WALKING

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an imposed external auditory constraint upon the temporal organization of walking. Ten subjects were videotaped walking normally (N) and with instructions to couple naturally, at mid-swing, or at toe-off to a metronome beat. Based upon an analysis of variance and post hoc Scheffe tests most temporal variables were not significantly different among conditions. The duration of swing phase was significantly different between natural coupling and toe-off. The deviation from the metronome beat was significantly different between the natural coupling and both mid-swing and toe-off. Subjects generally were not successful in achieving coupling during the latter conditions. Thigh and shank phase portraits were used to describe the system's organization to the external constraint.

Auditory processing disorder in patients with language-learning impairment and correlation with malformation of cortical development

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Auditory processing disorder in perisylvian syndrome

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

A proposed behavioral tool to assess sustained auditory attention

Sustained attention and vigilance are processeses that characterize attention, and are essential for the development of certain abilities Aim: a prospective study to propose a simple, easy and quick behavioral tool to support the assessment of sustained auditory attention. Material and methods: volunteer children aged between 6 and 11 years (139 female and 141 male) were selected. The test was named Sustained Auditory Attention Ability Test, and is based on the Continuous Performance Test. It consist of a binaural and diotic presentation of a list of 100 monosyllabic words in which a target monosyllable is included 20 times. This list was presented six times with no breaks. The test was carried out in a soundproofed room, using a CD player attached to a two-channel audiometer at 50 dBSL during 9 minutes. The test resulted in a total score and a vigilance decrement. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between genders, but a significant difference was found between ages. Conclusion: The proposed test had no discomfort for the participants, and was shown to be extremely promising to assess the sustained auditory attention ability in children. © Revista Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia. All Rights reserved.

Operant measurement of auditory threshold in prelingually deaf users of cochlear implants: II

Two experiments evaluated an operant procedure for establishing stimulus control using auditory and electrical stimuli as a baseline for measuring the electrical current threshold of electrodes implanted in the cochlea. Twenty-one prelingually deaf children, users of cochlear implants, learned a Go/No Go auditory discrimination task (i.e., pressing a button in the presence of the stimulus but not in its absence). When the simple discrimination baseline became stable, the electrical current was manipulated in descending and ascending series according to an adapted staircase method. Thresholds were determined for three electrodes, one in each location in the cochlea (basal, medial, and apical). Stimulus control was maintained within a certain range of decreasing electrical current but was eventually disrupted. Increasing the current recovered stimulus control, thus allowing the determination of a range of electrical currents that could be defined as the threshold. The present study demonstrated the feasibility of the operant procedure combined with a psychophysical method for threshold assessment, thus contributing to the routine fitting and maintenance of cochlear implants within the limitations of a hospital setting.

Blood Cues Induce Antipredator Behavior in Nile Tilapia Conspecifics

In this study, we show that the fish Nile tilapia displays an antipredator response to chemical cues present in the blood of conspecifics. This is the first report of alarm response induced by blood-borne chemical cues in fish. There is a body of evidence showing that chemical cues from epidermal 'club' cells elicit an alarm reaction in fish. However, the chemical cues of these 'club' cells are restricted to certain species of fish. Thus, as a parsimonious explanation, we assume that an alarm response to blood cues is a generalized response among animals because it occurs in mammals, birds and protostomian animals. Moreover, our results suggest that researchers must use caution when studying chemically induced alarm reactions because it is difficult to separate club cell cues from traces of blood. © 2013 Barreto et al.

Relationship between cardiac autonomic regulation and auditory mechanisms: Importance for growth and development

The literature has already demonstrated that auditory stimulation with music influences the cardiovascular system. In this study, we performed a literature review in order to investigate the relationship between auditory mechanisms and cardiac autonomic regulation. The selected studies indicated that there is a strong correlation between noise intensity and vagal-sympathetic balance. Also, it was reported that music therapy improved heart rate variability in anthracycline-treated breast cancer patients. It was hypothesized that dopamine release in the striatal system induced by pleasure songs are involved in the cardiac autonomic regulation. Further studies are necessary to add new elements in the literature to improve new therapies to treat cardiovascular disorders.

The effects of different styles of musical auditory stimulation on cardiac autonomic regulation in healthy women

The literature investigated the effects of chronic baroque music auditory stimulation on the cardiovascular system. However, it lacks in the literature the acute effects of different styles of music on cardiac autonomic regulation. To evaluate the acute effects of baroque and heavy metal music on heart rate variability (HRV) in women. The study was performed in 21 healthy women between 18 and 30 years old. We excluded persons with previous experience with music instrument and those who had affinity with the song styles. All procedures were performed in the same sound-proof room. We analyzed HRV in the time (standard deviation of normal-to-normal respiratory rate (RR) intervals, root-mean square of differences between adjacent normal RR intervals in a time interval, and the percentage of adjacent RR intervals with a difference of duration greater than 50 ms) and frequency (low frequency [LF], high frequency [HF], and LF/HF ratio) domains. HRV was recorded at rest for 10 min. Subsequently they were exposed to baroque or heavy metal music for 5 min through an earphone. After the first music exposure they remained at rest for more 5 min and them they were exposed again to baroque or heavy metal music. The sequence of songs was randomized for each individual. The power analysis provided a minimal number of 18 subjects. Shapiro-Wilk to verify normality of data and analysis of variance for repeated measures followed by the Bonferroni test for parametric variables and Friedman's followed by the Dunn's post-test for non-parametric distributions. During the analysis of the time-domain indices were not changed. In the frequency-domain analysis, the LF in absolute units was reduced during the heavy metal music stimulation compared to control. Acute exposure to heavy metal music affected the sympathetic activity in healthy women.

Normative study and evaluation of age influence on Brainstem auditory evoked potentials in mixed breed dogs]

The aim of this paper was to obtain normative data of auditory evoked potentials from 34 mixed breed dogs and evaluate the age influence. The animals were divided in two groups of different ages and auditory evoked potential was performed with a 85dB stimulus intensity. Group 1 included 16 dogs between 1 and 8 years of age, and group 2 included 18 dogs with over 8 years of age. The length and head diameter were measured and there was no statistical difference between the two groups. In group 1, mean latencies of waves I, III, and V were 1.13; 2.64, and 3.45ms, and the intervals I-III, III-V, and I-V were 1.51; 0.81, and 2.32 ms, respectively. In group 2, the mean latencies of waves I, III and V were 1.15, 2.62, and 3.55ms, and the intervals I-III, III-V, and I-V were 1.47, 0.93, and 2.40ms, respectively. The latencies observed in this study were similar to previous studies conducted by other authors. It was observed that significant differences were present for wave V and intervals III-V and I-V latencies when comparing groups with different ages, consequently this characteristic must be considered during BAEP result interpretation.