Objectives: This study aimed to investigate hearing and auditory processing ability in primary school children with learning difficulties (LD). Design: A nonrandomized, cross-sectional single measure research design was used. A total of 486 children, aged 7.7 to 10.8 years and attending years 3 and 4 in six primary schools, were classified as having an LD (n = 67) or being typically developing (TD, n = 419). This classification was based on a Learning Score generated from their school report results and National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy scores. All children attempted a conventional hearing assessment (CHA) involving pure-tone audiometry, tympanometry, acoustic reflexes (AR), and otoacoustic emissions (OAEs). Children returning pure-tone audiometry results within normal limits also attempted an auditory processing assessment (APA) including dichotic digits (DD) and low-pass filtered speech (LPFS) tests. Results: In children with LD, 21/67 (31.4%) failed the CHA, 20/58 (34.5%) failed the APA, and 32/58 (55.2%) failed the overall hearing assessment (OHA) if they failed either or both CHA and APA. In comparison, in TD children, 55/413 (13.3%) failed the CHA, 52/314 (16.6%) failed the APA, and 86/313 (27.5%) failed the OHA. Proportionally, children with LD were 2.4 times more likely than TD children to fail the CHA, 2.1 times more likely to fail the APA, and 2.0 times more likely to fail the OHA. In children who had completed the OHA, multiple linear regressions showed average AR thresholds, DD scores, and LPFS scores explained 13 to 18% of the variance in the Learning Score. Conclusion: The potential for hearing impairment should be investigated in children with LD. These investigations should begin with CHA, and for children returning normal-hearing thresholds, should continue with measures of AR, DD, and LPFS, to ensure these children receive the appropriate auditory support needed to enhance their learning. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: All authors listed in this article contributed equally to this work. R.C., J.K., and W.J.W. designed the study. R.C. collected data with the patients. All authors discussed the results and implications and commented on the article at all stages. The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. Address for correspondence: Seong Min Robyn Choi, Hearing Research Unit for Children, Discipline of Audiology, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia. E-mail: r.choi@uq.edu.au. Received January 4, 2018; accepted July 15, 2018. Copyright © 2018 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Πέμπτη 6 Σεπτεμβρίου 2018
Hearing and Auditory Processing Abilities in Primary School Children with Learning Difficulties
Objectives: This study aimed to investigate hearing and auditory processing ability in primary school children with learning difficulties (LD). Design: A nonrandomized, cross-sectional single measure research design was used. A total of 486 children, aged 7.7 to 10.8 years and attending years 3 and 4 in six primary schools, were classified as having an LD (n = 67) or being typically developing (TD, n = 419). This classification was based on a Learning Score generated from their school report results and National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy scores. All children attempted a conventional hearing assessment (CHA) involving pure-tone audiometry, tympanometry, acoustic reflexes (AR), and otoacoustic emissions (OAEs). Children returning pure-tone audiometry results within normal limits also attempted an auditory processing assessment (APA) including dichotic digits (DD) and low-pass filtered speech (LPFS) tests. Results: In children with LD, 21/67 (31.4%) failed the CHA, 20/58 (34.5%) failed the APA, and 32/58 (55.2%) failed the overall hearing assessment (OHA) if they failed either or both CHA and APA. In comparison, in TD children, 55/413 (13.3%) failed the CHA, 52/314 (16.6%) failed the APA, and 86/313 (27.5%) failed the OHA. Proportionally, children with LD were 2.4 times more likely than TD children to fail the CHA, 2.1 times more likely to fail the APA, and 2.0 times more likely to fail the OHA. In children who had completed the OHA, multiple linear regressions showed average AR thresholds, DD scores, and LPFS scores explained 13 to 18% of the variance in the Learning Score. Conclusion: The potential for hearing impairment should be investigated in children with LD. These investigations should begin with CHA, and for children returning normal-hearing thresholds, should continue with measures of AR, DD, and LPFS, to ensure these children receive the appropriate auditory support needed to enhance their learning. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: All authors listed in this article contributed equally to this work. R.C., J.K., and W.J.W. designed the study. R.C. collected data with the patients. All authors discussed the results and implications and commented on the article at all stages. The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. Address for correspondence: Seong Min Robyn Choi, Hearing Research Unit for Children, Discipline of Audiology, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia. E-mail: r.choi@uq.edu.au. Received January 4, 2018; accepted July 15, 2018. Copyright © 2018 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Auditory cortex responses to interaural time differences in the envelope of low-frequency sound, recorded with MEG in young and older listeners.
Publication date: Available online 6 September 2018
Source: Hearing Research
Author(s): Bernhard Ross
ABSTRACT
Interaural time and intensity differences (ITD and IID) are important cues in binaural hearing and allow for sound localization, improving speech understanding in noise and reverberation, and integrating sound sources in the auditory scene. Whereas previous research showed that the upper-frequency limit for ITD detection in the fine structure of sound declines in aging, the processing of envelope ITD in low-frequency amplitude modulated (AM) sound and the related brain responses are less understood. This study investigated the cortical processing of envelope ITD and compared the results with previous findings about the fine-structure ITD. In two experiments, participants listened to 40-Hz AM tones containing sudden changes in the envelope ITD. Multiple MEG responses were analyzed, including the auditory evoked N1 responses, elicited both by sound onsets and ITD changes, and 40-Hz responses, elicited by the AM. The first experiment with healthy young adults revealed a substantial decline in the magnitudes of the ITD change N1 response, and the 40-Hz phase resets at higher carrier frequencies, suggesting a similar frequency characteristic as observed for fine structure ITD. The amplitude of the 40-Hz ASSR declined only gradually with increasing carrier frequency, and it was excluded as a confounding factor in the decline in the ITD response. Larger responses to outward ITD changes than inward changes, here first reported for envelope ITD, were another characteristics that were similar to fine-structure ITD. A second experiment with groups of young and older listeners examined the effects of aging and concurrent noise on the cortical envelope ITD responses. One important research question was, whether binaural cues are accessible in noise. Behavioural tests showed an age-related hearing loss in the older group and decreased performance in envelope ITD detection and speech-in-noise (SIN) understanding. Binaural hearing and SIN performance were correlated with on other, but not with hearing loss. The frequency limit for envelope ITD was reduced in older listeners similarly as previously found for fine structure ITD, and older listeners were more susceptible to concurrent multi-talker noise. The similarities between responses to envelope ITD and to fine structure ITD suggest that a common cortical code exists for the envelope and fine structure ITD. The dependency on the carrier frequency suggests that envelope ITD processing at the subcortical level requires stimulus phase locking, which might be reduced in aging.
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Auditory cortex responses to interaural time differences in the envelope of low-frequency sound, recorded with MEG in young and older listeners.
Publication date: Available online 6 September 2018
Source: Hearing Research
Author(s): Bernhard Ross
ABSTRACT
Interaural time and intensity differences (ITD and IID) are important cues in binaural hearing and allow for sound localization, improving speech understanding in noise and reverberation, and integrating sound sources in the auditory scene. Whereas previous research showed that the upper-frequency limit for ITD detection in the fine structure of sound declines in aging, the processing of envelope ITD in low-frequency amplitude modulated (AM) sound and the related brain responses are less understood. This study investigated the cortical processing of envelope ITD and compared the results with previous findings about the fine-structure ITD. In two experiments, participants listened to 40-Hz AM tones containing sudden changes in the envelope ITD. Multiple MEG responses were analyzed, including the auditory evoked N1 responses, elicited both by sound onsets and ITD changes, and 40-Hz responses, elicited by the AM. The first experiment with healthy young adults revealed a substantial decline in the magnitudes of the ITD change N1 response, and the 40-Hz phase resets at higher carrier frequencies, suggesting a similar frequency characteristic as observed for fine structure ITD. The amplitude of the 40-Hz ASSR declined only gradually with increasing carrier frequency, and it was excluded as a confounding factor in the decline in the ITD response. Larger responses to outward ITD changes than inward changes, here first reported for envelope ITD, were another characteristics that were similar to fine-structure ITD. A second experiment with groups of young and older listeners examined the effects of aging and concurrent noise on the cortical envelope ITD responses. One important research question was, whether binaural cues are accessible in noise. Behavioural tests showed an age-related hearing loss in the older group and decreased performance in envelope ITD detection and speech-in-noise (SIN) understanding. Binaural hearing and SIN performance were correlated with on other, but not with hearing loss. The frequency limit for envelope ITD was reduced in older listeners similarly as previously found for fine structure ITD, and older listeners were more susceptible to concurrent multi-talker noise. The similarities between responses to envelope ITD and to fine structure ITD suggest that a common cortical code exists for the envelope and fine structure ITD. The dependency on the carrier frequency suggests that envelope ITD processing at the subcortical level requires stimulus phase locking, which might be reduced in aging.
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A kinematic and kinetic analysis of the hip and knee joints in patients with posterior tibialis tendon dysfunction; comparison with healthy age-matched controls
Publication date: Available online 5 September 2018
Source: Gait & Posture
Author(s): Hiroshi Maeda, Kazuya Ikoma, Shogo Toyama, Daigo Taniguchi, Masamitsu Kido, Suzuyo Ohashi, Shuichi Kubo, Norikazu Hishikawa, Koshiro Sawada, Yasuo Mikami, Toshikazu Kubo
Abstract
Background
The biomechanical abnormalities in patients with posterior tibial tendon dysfunction (PTTD) have been described, but few studies have investigated biomechanical chains of adjacent joints. Therefore, we examined the gait pattern of the lower extremity in subjects with PTTD, focusing on the hip and knee joints.
Methods
We compared 19 PTTD patients (average age: 67.1) with 30 age-matched control subjects (average age: 65.1). Gait analysis was performed with a nine-camera motion-capture system and four force plates, using the Vicon Plug-In-Gait and Vicon Nexus software. Temporal-spatial parameters were compared between PTTD and control subjects, and motion and ground reaction force data were compared between the affected limb, the contralateral limb, and the right limb in control subjects.
Results
Subjects with PTTD had increased stance phase ratio and decreased stride length, cadence, and gait speed. The limbs of subjects with PTTD showed increased knee internal rotation at lording response, which was biased to abduction in the knee joint during the gait cycle, and irregular hip flexion and knee extension moment in the terminal stance, even under control of gait speed.
Significance
We believe that the subjects with PTTD have an increased risk of knee osteoarthritis in both the affected and contralateral limbs.
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A kinematic and kinetic analysis of the hip and knee joints in patients with posterior tibialis tendon dysfunction; comparison with healthy age-matched controls
Publication date: Available online 5 September 2018
Source: Gait & Posture
Author(s): Hiroshi Maeda, Kazuya Ikoma, Shogo Toyama, Daigo Taniguchi, Masamitsu Kido, Suzuyo Ohashi, Shuichi Kubo, Norikazu Hishikawa, Koshiro Sawada, Yasuo Mikami, Toshikazu Kubo
Abstract
Background
The biomechanical abnormalities in patients with posterior tibial tendon dysfunction (PTTD) have been described, but few studies have investigated biomechanical chains of adjacent joints. Therefore, we examined the gait pattern of the lower extremity in subjects with PTTD, focusing on the hip and knee joints.
Methods
We compared 19 PTTD patients (average age: 67.1) with 30 age-matched control subjects (average age: 65.1). Gait analysis was performed with a nine-camera motion-capture system and four force plates, using the Vicon Plug-In-Gait and Vicon Nexus software. Temporal-spatial parameters were compared between PTTD and control subjects, and motion and ground reaction force data were compared between the affected limb, the contralateral limb, and the right limb in control subjects.
Results
Subjects with PTTD had increased stance phase ratio and decreased stride length, cadence, and gait speed. The limbs of subjects with PTTD showed increased knee internal rotation at lording response, which was biased to abduction in the knee joint during the gait cycle, and irregular hip flexion and knee extension moment in the terminal stance, even under control of gait speed.
Significance
We believe that the subjects with PTTD have an increased risk of knee osteoarthritis in both the affected and contralateral limbs.
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Auditory cortex responses to interaural time differences in the envelope of low-frequency sound, recorded with MEG in young and older listeners.
Publication date: Available online 6 September 2018
Source: Hearing Research
Author(s): Bernhard Ross
ABSTRACT
Interaural time and intensity differences (ITD and IID) are important cues in binaural hearing and allow for sound localization, improving speech understanding in noise and reverberation, and integrating sound sources in the auditory scene. Whereas previous research showed that the upper-frequency limit for ITD detection in the fine structure of sound declines in aging, the processing of envelope ITD in low-frequency amplitude modulated (AM) sound and the related brain responses are less understood. This study investigated the cortical processing of envelope ITD and compared the results with previous findings about the fine-structure ITD. In two experiments, participants listened to 40-Hz AM tones containing sudden changes in the envelope ITD. Multiple MEG responses were analyzed, including the auditory evoked N1 responses, elicited both by sound onsets and ITD changes, and 40-Hz responses, elicited by the AM. The first experiment with healthy young adults revealed a substantial decline in the magnitudes of the ITD change N1 response, and the 40-Hz phase resets at higher carrier frequencies, suggesting a similar frequency characteristic as observed for fine structure ITD. The amplitude of the 40-Hz ASSR declined only gradually with increasing carrier frequency, and it was excluded as a confounding factor in the decline in the ITD response. Larger responses to outward ITD changes than inward changes, here first reported for envelope ITD, were another characteristics that were similar to fine-structure ITD. A second experiment with groups of young and older listeners examined the effects of aging and concurrent noise on the cortical envelope ITD responses. One important research question was, whether binaural cues are accessible in noise. Behavioural tests showed an age-related hearing loss in the older group and decreased performance in envelope ITD detection and speech-in-noise (SIN) understanding. Binaural hearing and SIN performance were correlated with on other, but not with hearing loss. The frequency limit for envelope ITD was reduced in older listeners similarly as previously found for fine structure ITD, and older listeners were more susceptible to concurrent multi-talker noise. The similarities between responses to envelope ITD and to fine structure ITD suggest that a common cortical code exists for the envelope and fine structure ITD. The dependency on the carrier frequency suggests that envelope ITD processing at the subcortical level requires stimulus phase locking, which might be reduced in aging.
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Auditory cortex responses to interaural time differences in the envelope of low-frequency sound, recorded with MEG in young and older listeners.
Publication date: Available online 6 September 2018
Source: Hearing Research
Author(s): Bernhard Ross
ABSTRACT
Interaural time and intensity differences (ITD and IID) are important cues in binaural hearing and allow for sound localization, improving speech understanding in noise and reverberation, and integrating sound sources in the auditory scene. Whereas previous research showed that the upper-frequency limit for ITD detection in the fine structure of sound declines in aging, the processing of envelope ITD in low-frequency amplitude modulated (AM) sound and the related brain responses are less understood. This study investigated the cortical processing of envelope ITD and compared the results with previous findings about the fine-structure ITD. In two experiments, participants listened to 40-Hz AM tones containing sudden changes in the envelope ITD. Multiple MEG responses were analyzed, including the auditory evoked N1 responses, elicited both by sound onsets and ITD changes, and 40-Hz responses, elicited by the AM. The first experiment with healthy young adults revealed a substantial decline in the magnitudes of the ITD change N1 response, and the 40-Hz phase resets at higher carrier frequencies, suggesting a similar frequency characteristic as observed for fine structure ITD. The amplitude of the 40-Hz ASSR declined only gradually with increasing carrier frequency, and it was excluded as a confounding factor in the decline in the ITD response. Larger responses to outward ITD changes than inward changes, here first reported for envelope ITD, were another characteristics that were similar to fine-structure ITD. A second experiment with groups of young and older listeners examined the effects of aging and concurrent noise on the cortical envelope ITD responses. One important research question was, whether binaural cues are accessible in noise. Behavioural tests showed an age-related hearing loss in the older group and decreased performance in envelope ITD detection and speech-in-noise (SIN) understanding. Binaural hearing and SIN performance were correlated with on other, but not with hearing loss. The frequency limit for envelope ITD was reduced in older listeners similarly as previously found for fine structure ITD, and older listeners were more susceptible to concurrent multi-talker noise. The similarities between responses to envelope ITD and to fine structure ITD suggest that a common cortical code exists for the envelope and fine structure ITD. The dependency on the carrier frequency suggests that envelope ITD processing at the subcortical level requires stimulus phase locking, which might be reduced in aging.
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Diplomats' Mystery Illness and Pulsed Radiofrequency/Microwave Radiation.
Diplomats' Mystery Illness and Pulsed Radiofrequency/Microwave Radiation.
Neural Comput. 2018 Sep 05;:
Authors: Golomb B
Abstract
IMPORTANCE: A "mystery" illness striking US and Canadian diplomats to Cuba (and now China) "has confounded the FBI, the State Department and US intelligence agencies." Sonic explanations for the so-called "health attacks" have long dominated media reports, propelled by peculiar sounds heard and auditory symptoms experienced. Sonic mediation was justly rejected by experts. We assessed whether pulsed radiofrequency/microwave radiation (RF/MW) exposure can accommodate reported facts in diplomats, including unusual ones.
OBSERVATIONS: 1. Noises: Chirping, ringing or grinding noises were heard at night, during episodes reportedly triggering health problems, by many diplomats. Pulsed RF/MW engenders just these "sounds" via the "Frey effect." Ability to hear the sounds depends on high frequency hearing and low ambient noise. "Sounds" differ by head dimensions. 2. Signs/symptoms: Hearing loss and tinnitus are prominent in affected diplomats - and in RF/MW-affected individuals. Each of protean symptoms that diplomats report, also affect persons reporting symptoms from RF/MW: Sleep problems, headaches, and cognitive problems dominate in both groups. Sensations of pressure or vibration figure in each. Both encompass vision, balance and speech problems, and nosebleeds. Brain injury and brain swelling are reported in both. 3. Mechanisms: Oxidative stress provides a documented mechanism of RF/MW injury compatible with reported signs and symptoms; sequelae of endothelial dysfunction (yielding blood flow compromise), membrane damage, blood brain barrier disruption, mitochondrial injury, apoptosis, and autoimmune triggering afford downstream mechanisms, of varying persistence, that merit investigation. 4. Of note, microwaving of the US embassy in Moscow is historically documented.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Reported facts appear consistent with RF/MW as the source of injury in Cuba diplomats. Non-diplomats citing symptoms from RF/MW, often with an inciting pulsed-RF/MW exposure, report compatible health conditions. Under the RF/MW hypothesis, lessons learned for diplomats and for RF/MW-affected "civilians" may each aid the other.
PMID: 30183509 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
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Diplomats' Mystery Illness and Pulsed Radiofrequency/Microwave Radiation.
Diplomats' Mystery Illness and Pulsed Radiofrequency/Microwave Radiation.
Neural Comput. 2018 Sep 05;:
Authors: Golomb B
Abstract
IMPORTANCE: A "mystery" illness striking US and Canadian diplomats to Cuba (and now China) "has confounded the FBI, the State Department and US intelligence agencies." Sonic explanations for the so-called "health attacks" have long dominated media reports, propelled by peculiar sounds heard and auditory symptoms experienced. Sonic mediation was justly rejected by experts. We assessed whether pulsed radiofrequency/microwave radiation (RF/MW) exposure can accommodate reported facts in diplomats, including unusual ones.
OBSERVATIONS: 1. Noises: Chirping, ringing or grinding noises were heard at night, during episodes reportedly triggering health problems, by many diplomats. Pulsed RF/MW engenders just these "sounds" via the "Frey effect." Ability to hear the sounds depends on high frequency hearing and low ambient noise. "Sounds" differ by head dimensions. 2. Signs/symptoms: Hearing loss and tinnitus are prominent in affected diplomats - and in RF/MW-affected individuals. Each of protean symptoms that diplomats report, also affect persons reporting symptoms from RF/MW: Sleep problems, headaches, and cognitive problems dominate in both groups. Sensations of pressure or vibration figure in each. Both encompass vision, balance and speech problems, and nosebleeds. Brain injury and brain swelling are reported in both. 3. Mechanisms: Oxidative stress provides a documented mechanism of RF/MW injury compatible with reported signs and symptoms; sequelae of endothelial dysfunction (yielding blood flow compromise), membrane damage, blood brain barrier disruption, mitochondrial injury, apoptosis, and autoimmune triggering afford downstream mechanisms, of varying persistence, that merit investigation. 4. Of note, microwaving of the US embassy in Moscow is historically documented.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Reported facts appear consistent with RF/MW as the source of injury in Cuba diplomats. Non-diplomats citing symptoms from RF/MW, often with an inciting pulsed-RF/MW exposure, report compatible health conditions. Under the RF/MW hypothesis, lessons learned for diplomats and for RF/MW-affected "civilians" may each aid the other.
PMID: 30183509 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
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