Relationship between two dichotic listening tests and the Token test for children

Listening Difficulties in Children: Behavior and Brain Activation Produced by Dichotic Listening of CV Syllables

Listening difficulties (LiD) are common in children with and without hearing loss. Impaired interactions between the two ears have been proposed as an important component of LiD when there is no hearing loss, also known as auditory processing disorder (APD). We examined the ability of 6-13 year old (y.o.) children with normal audiometric thresholds to identify and selectively attend to dichotically presented CV syllables using the Bergen Dichotic Listening Test (BDLT; www.dichoticlistening.com). Children were recruited as typically developing (TD; n = 39) or having LiD (n = 35) based primarily on composite score of the ECLiPS caregiver report. Different single syllables (ba, da, ga, pa, ta, ka) were presented simultaneously to each ear (6 × 36 trials). Children reported the syllable heard most clearly (non-forced, NF) or the syllable presented to the right [forced right (FR)] or left [forced left (FL)] ear. Interaural level differences (ILDs) manipulated bottom-up perceptual salience. Dichotic listening (DL) data [correct responses, laterality index (LI)] were analyzed initially by group (LiD, TD), age, report method (NF, FR, FL), and ILD (0, ± 15 dB) and compared with speech-in-noise thresholds (LiSN-S) and cognitive performance (NIH Toolbox). fMRI measured brain activation produced by a receptive speech task that segregated speech, phonetic, and intelligibility components. Some activated areas [planum temporale (PT), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC)] were correlated with dichotic results in TD children only. Neither group, age, nor report method affected the LI of right/left recall. However, a significant interaction was found between ear, group, and ILD. Laterality indices were small and tended to increase with age, as previously reported. Children with LiD had significantly larger mean LIs than TD children for stimuli with ILDs, especially those favoring the left ear. Neural activity associated with Speech, Phonetic, and Intelligibility sentence cues did not differ significantly between groups. Significant correlations between brain activity level and BDLT were found in several frontal and temporal locations for the TD but not for the LiD group. Overall, the children with LiD had only subtle differences from TD children in the BDLT, and correspondingly minor changes in brain activation.

Screening for Specific Language Impairment in Preschool Children: Evaluating a Screening Procedure Including the Token Test

Specific language impairment (SLI) comprises impairments in receptive and/or expressive language. Aim of this study was to evaluate a screening for SLI. 61 children with SLI (SLI-children, age-range 4-6 years) and 61 matched typically developing controls were tested for receptive language ability (Token Test-TT) and for intelligence (Wechsler Preschool-and-Primary-Scale-of-Intelligence-WPPSI). Group differences were analyzed using t tests, as well as direct and stepwise discriminant analyses. The predictive value of the WPPSI with respect to TT performance was analyzed using regression analyses. SLI-children performed significantly worse on both TT and WPPSI ([Formula: see text]). The TT alone yielded an overall classification rate of 79%, the TT and the WPPSI together yielded an overall classification rate of 80%. TT performance was significantly predicted by verbal intelligence in SLI-children and nonverbal intelligence in controls whilst WPPSI subtest arithmetic was predictive in both groups. Without further research, the Token Test cannot be seen as a valid and sufficient tool for the screening of SLI in preschool children but rather as a tool for the assessment of more general intellectual capacities. SLI-children at this age already show impairments typically associated with SLI which indicates the necessity of early developmental support or training. Token Test performance is possibly an indicator for a more general developmental factor rather than an exclusive indicator for language difficulties.

Changes in Central Auditory Processing in Patients with Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy after Anterior Temporal Lobectomy with Amygdalohippocampectomy

Background and Purpose

This study aimed to determine the effects of anterior temporal lobectomy with amygdalohippocampectomy (ATL-AH) on central auditory processing (CAP) in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (mTLE-HS), and to identify factors that may contribute to the postoperative worsening of CAP.

Methods

Frequency-pattern, duration-pattern, and dichotic tests were performed before and after epilepsy surgery in 22 patients with normal hearing according to pure-tone audiometry.

Results

No significant difference in CAP scores was detected between pre- and postoperative tests, but there was a strong association between surgery in the language-dominant temporal lobe and postoperative worsening in the non-dominant-side dichotic test (p<0.05). The probability of a decreased performance in a non-dominant-side dichotic test after surgery was 7.5-fold greater in patients who underwent surgery on the dominant temporal lobe compared with the nondominant temporal lobe. No significant association of postoperative worsening in CAP with the verbal, nonverbal intelligence quotient, or right- or left-side lobectomy was noted.

Conclusions

These results suggest that ATL-AH on the dominant side in patients with mTLE-HS worsens the CAP ability in the non-dominant-side dichotic test.

Effects of listening ability on speaking, writing and reading skills of children who were suspected of auditory processing difficulty

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of listening ability on speaking, writing and reading skills of children who was suspected of auditory processing difficulty (APD).

METHOD

This research was conducted with 67 children in 1st or 2nd grade of primary school. The first group (Group I-control) was comprised of 41 children without APD. The second group (Group II-study group) was comprised of 26 children with APD. Listening, speaking, reading and writing skills were evaluated by Observational Rating Scale (ORS) and analyzed in both groups.

RESULTS

Listening value of ORS in APD group was significantly lower; and, speaking, reading and writing values of ORS in APD group were significantly higher than control group (p=0.000). It was also found that, the main effect of listening skills was on speaking in normal childs, and on writing ability in children with APD.

CONCLUSION

It was concluded that, for school-aged children, APD can lead to or is associated with difficulties in written language.

Auditory Processing Measures: Correlation with Neuropsychological Measures of Attention, Memory, and Behavior

It has been suggested that measures of auditory processing (AP) are sensitive measures of attention resulting in the high comorbidity of auditory processing disorder (APD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Others have found that selected AP measures share significant variance with memory tasks. The current study investigated the relation between AP measures and various neuropsychological measures presumed to measure attention and memory in 36 children with a mean age of 7.78 years (SD=1.61) referred to an outpatient facility. Results indicate that AP measures significantly correlated with each other as well as with some measures of attention, memory, and behavior ratings. Results suggest that although AP measures include elements of both attention and memory, these measures also appear to assess processes not tapped by other measures of attention and memory. The correlation of AP measures with parent-and teacher-rated withdrawal, parent-rated somatization, conduct, and depression, as well as teacher-rated attention, anxiety, learning problems, social skills, and leadership suggest that auditory processing problems may manifest in myriad behaviors across settings. Implications for practice and future research are presented.

Exploring Possible Sociocultural Bias on the SCAN-C

Sociocultural bias on the SCAN-C (R. W. Keith, 2000) was investigated with 20 Anglo American and 20 Latino American 8-year-old children from low- and mid-high-socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. Univariate and repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVAs) failed to reveal any significant differences between the groups when clustered by ethnicity and SES. The Latino American participants' scores were analyzed for dialectal variations, and the ANOVA analyses were repeated using the corrected scores. No significant interactions were observed. Classification analyses revealed that 10% more Latino American children than Anglo American children fell into the borderline-to-disordered category based on SCAN-C composite scores; these classification differences were most apparent on the Filtered Words subtest (with a difference of 25%). When scores with dialectal rescoring were considered, the classification distribution for the Latino American children more closely matched that of the Anglo American children. Given the increased likelihood of Latino American children scoring in the borderline-to-disordered category, caution should be used in interpreting SCAN-C results for Latino American children. Dialect scoring should be applied when Latino American children fall in the borderline-to-disordered category.

The Staggered Spondaic Word Test

Various auditory and language tasks are considered to reflect children's auditory processing abilities. It has been suggested that these measures may be assessing language, rather than auditory, processing. In addition, recent studies have suggested that tasks used in the assessment of auditory processing may, in fact, be assessing attention. Of the auditory paradigms, the most frequently used measure is the Staggered Spondaic Word test (SSW; Katz, 1962). This study investigated the correlation of impaired SSW performance with other auditory measures, cognitive ability, language functioning, and behavioral ratings specific to inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity in a group of 38 children who demonstrated impairment on the SSW. Results indicate that the SSW correlates most with measures of cognitive ability, expressive language, and those relating to auditory memory. As children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been found to demonstrate impaired performance on the SSW, the likelihood that children with ADHD would demonstrate impairment bilaterally as opposed to a single-ear effect was also investigated. Results did not support a consistent pattern of impaired SSW performance for children with ADHD, suggesting that CAPD and ADHD are, in fact, not the same entity.