Researchers Discover New Genes Critical for Understanding Hearing Loss

A study has identified new genes linked to hearing loss in mice, which will provide insights into the causes of hearing loss in humans (Nat Commun. 2017;8[1]:886). Scientists from Medical Research Council Hartwell who led the research found 67 genes that were associated with hearing loss, of which 52 had not been previously connected to hearing loss, by testing 3,006 strains of mice for signs of hearing loss. They assessed the hearing thresholds of these mice with rising volumes of sounds at different frequencies. Mice were considered hearing impaired if they could not hear the quieter sounds for two or more frequencies. The genes identified varied in how they affect hearing, with effects ranging from mild to severe hearing loss or hearing difficulties at lower or higher frequencies.

​​Steve Brown, PhD, senior author of this paper, said the results of the study increased the knowledge of the many genes and molecular mechanisms required for hearing and provide a short list of new genes to investigate to discover the genetic basis of many human hearing loss syndrome. "Further investigation of these hearing loss mouse models will increase understanding of how the auditory system develops, is maintained, and the pathological processes involved with its decline," Brown said. "In particular, we need to establish whether the genes impact on known hearing loss pathways or if they implicate new processes in the auditory system. A longer term benefit that could arise from studying these models might be the identification of critical cellular functions, which can then be targets for therapies."

 

 

Published: 10/20/2017 9:44:00 AM

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Researchers Discover New Genes Critical for Understanding Hearing Loss

A study has identified new genes linked to hearing loss in mice, which will provide insights into the causes of hearing loss in humans (Nat Commun. 2017;8[1]:886). Scientists from Medical Research Council Hartwell who led the research found 67 genes that were associated with hearing loss, of which 52 had not been previously connected to hearing loss, by testing 3,006 strains of mice for signs of hearing loss. They assessed the hearing thresholds of these mice with rising volumes of sounds at different frequencies. Mice were considered hearing impaired if they could not hear the quieter sounds for two or more frequencies. The genes identified varied in how they affect hearing, with effects ranging from mild to severe hearing loss or hearing difficulties at lower or higher frequencies.

​​Steve Brown, PhD, senior author of this paper, said the results of the study increased the knowledge of the many genes and molecular mechanisms required for hearing and provide a short list of new genes to investigate to discover the genetic basis of many human hearing loss syndrome. "Further investigation of these hearing loss mouse models will increase understanding of how the auditory system develops, is maintained, and the pathological processes involved with its decline," Brown said. "In particular, we need to establish whether the genes impact on known hearing loss pathways or if they implicate new processes in the auditory system. A longer term benefit that could arise from studying these models might be the identification of critical cellular functions, which can then be targets for therapies."

 

 

Published: 10/20/2017 9:44:00 AM

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via IFTTT

Researchers Discover New Genes Critical for Understanding Hearing Loss

A study has identified new genes linked to hearing loss in mice, which will provide insights into the causes of hearing loss in humans (Nat Commun. 2017;8[1]:886). Scientists from Medical Research Council Hartwell who led the research found 67 genes that were associated with hearing loss, of which 52 had not been previously connected to hearing loss, by testing 3,006 strains of mice for signs of hearing loss. They assessed the hearing thresholds of these mice with rising volumes of sounds at different frequencies. Mice were considered hearing impaired if they could not hear the quieter sounds for two or more frequencies. The genes identified varied in how they affect hearing, with effects ranging from mild to severe hearing loss or hearing difficulties at lower or higher frequencies.

​​Steve Brown, PhD, senior author of this paper, said the results of the study increased the knowledge of the many genes and molecular mechanisms required for hearing and provide a short list of new genes to investigate to discover the genetic basis of many human hearing loss syndrome. "Further investigation of these hearing loss mouse models will increase understanding of how the auditory system develops, is maintained, and the pathological processes involved with its decline," Brown said. "In particular, we need to establish whether the genes impact on known hearing loss pathways or if they implicate new processes in the auditory system. A longer term benefit that could arise from studying these models might be the identification of critical cellular functions, which can then be targets for therapies."

 

 

Published: 10/20/2017 9:44:00 AM

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Stimulus Characteristics of Single-Word Tests of Children's Speech Sound Production

Purpose

This clinical focus article provides readers with a description of the stimulus characteristics of 12 popular tests of speech sound production.

Method

Using significance testing and descriptive analyses, stimulus items were compared in terms of the number of opportunities for production of all consonant singletons, clusters, and rhotic and nonrhotic vowels of Standard American English; phonetic/phonological and structural complexity; and the presence of bound morphemes.

Results

The tests varied widely in terms of the number of opportunities for production of consonant singletons, clusters, and rhotic and nonrhotic vowels. Most of the tests included only 1 opportunity, scored or unscored, to produce a majority of the consonant singletons in each word position. Only 3 of the tests included stimulus items with 3-element clusters. The majority contained limited opportunities to produce 3- or 4-syllable stimulus items. The tests provided sufficient opportunities for production of most vowels, although most did not score vowels. The tests differed significantly in the complexity of their stimulus items. Most, however, contained a negligible number of items that, with the addition of a bound morpheme, resulted in a word-final cluster.

Conclusion

Most of the tests elicit an inadequate sample with which to conduct a comprehensive phonological analysis.

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Developmental Stuttering in Children Who Are Hard of Hearing

Purpose

A number of studies with large sample sizes have reported lower prevalence of stuttering in children with significant hearing loss compared to children without hearing loss. This study used a parent questionnaire to investigate the characteristics of stuttering (e.g., incidence, prevalence, and age of onset) in children who are hard of hearing (CHH).

Method

Three hundred three parents of CHH who participated in the Outcomes of Children With Hearing Loss study (Moeller & Tomblin, 2015) were sent questionnaires asking about their child's history of stuttering.

Results

One hundred ninety-four parents of CHH responded to the survey. Thirty-three CHH were reported to have stuttered at one point in time (an incidence of 17.01%), and 10 children were still stuttering at the time of survey submission (a prevalence of 5.15%). Compared to estimates in the general population, this sample displayed a significantly higher incidence and prevalence. The age of onset, recovery rate, and other characteristics were similar to hearing children.

Conclusions

Based on this sample, mild to moderately severe hearing loss does not appear to be a protective factor for stuttering in the preschool years. In fact, the incidence and prevalence of stuttering may be higher in this population compared to the general population. Despite the significant speech and language needs that children with mild to moderately severe hearing loss may have, speech-language pathologists should appropriately prioritize stuttering treatment as they would in the hearing population.

Supplemental Material

http://ift.tt/2x5UlyF

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Population Estimates, Health Care Characteristics, and Material Hardship Experiences of U.S. Children With Parent-Reported Speech-Language Difficulties: Evidence From Three Nationally Representative Surveys

Purpose

To provide estimates for the prevalence of parent-reported speech-language difficulties in U.S. children, and to describe the levels of health care access and material hardship in this population.

Method

We tabulated descriptive and bivariate statistics using cross-sectional data from the 2007 and 2011/2012 iterations of the National Survey of Children's Health, the 2005/2006 and 2009/2010 iterations of the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs, and the 2004 and 2008 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation.

Results

Prevalence estimates ranged from 1.8% to 5.0%, with data from two of the three surveys preliminarily indicating increased prevalence in recent years. The largest health care challenge was in accessing care coordination, with 49%–56% of children with parent-reported speech-language difficulties lacking full access. Children with parent-reported speech-language difficulties were more likely than peers without any indications of speech-language difficulties to live in households experiencing each measured material hardship and participating in each measured public benefit program (e.g., 20%–22% experiencing food insecurity, compared to 11%–14% of their peers without any indications of speech-language difficulties).

Conclusions

We found mixed preliminary evidence to suggest that the prevalence of parent-reported speech-language difficulties among children may be rising. These children face heightened levels of material hardship and barriers in accessing health care.

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Emergent Literacy Skills in Preschool Children With Hearing Loss Who Use Spoken Language: Initial Findings From the Early Language and Literacy Acquisition (ELLA) Study

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to compare change in emergent literacy skills of preschool children with and without hearing loss over a 6-month period.

Method

Participants included 19 children with hearing loss and 14 children with normal hearing. Children with hearing loss used amplification and spoken language. Participants completed measures of oral language, phonological processing, and print knowledge twice at a 6-month interval. A series of repeated-measures analyses of variance were used to compare change across groups.

Results

Main effects of time were observed for all variables except phonological recoding. Main effects of group were observed for vocabulary, morphosyntax, phonological memory, and concepts of print. Interaction effects were observed for phonological awareness and concepts of print.

Conclusions

Children with hearing loss performed more poorly than children with normal hearing on measures of oral language, phonological memory, and conceptual print knowledge. Two interaction effects were present. For phonological awareness and concepts of print, children with hearing loss demonstrated less positive change than children with normal hearing. Although children with hearing loss generally demonstrated a positive growth in emergent literacy skills, their initial performance was lower than that of children with normal hearing, and rates of change were not sufficient to catch up to the peers over time.

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How African American English-Speaking First Graders Segment and Rhyme Words and Nonwords With Final Consonant Clusters

Purpose

This study explored how typically developing 1st grade African American English (AAE) speakers differ from mainstream American English (MAE) speakers in the completion of 2 common phonological awareness tasks (rhyming and phoneme segmentation) when the stimulus items were consonant–vowel–consonant–consonant (CVCC) words and nonwords.

Method

Forty-nine 1st graders met criteria for 2 dialect groups: AAE and MAE. Three conditions were tested in each rhyme and segmentation task: Real Words No Model, Real Words With a Model, and Nonwords With a Model.

Results

The AAE group had significantly more responses that rhymed CVCC words with consonant–vowel–consonant words and segmented CVCC words as consonant–vowel–consonant than the MAE group across all experimental conditions. In the rhyming task, the presence of a model in the real word condition elicited more reduced final cluster responses for both groups. In the segmentation task, the MAE group was at ceiling, so only the AAE group changed across the different stimulus presentations and reduced the final cluster less often when given a model.

Conclusion

Rhyming and phoneme segmentation performance can be influenced by a child's dialect when CVCC words are used.

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The Oral Narrative Comprehension and Production Abilities of Verbal Preschoolers on the Autism Spectrum

Purpose

This study described the oral narrative comprehension and production skills of verbal preschool-age children on the autism spectrum and investigated correlations between oral narrative ability and norm-referenced language test performance.

Method

Twenty-nine preschool-age children (aged 4;0–5;9 years;months) with autism, who obtained an age-equivalent score of at least 36 months on the expressive communication subscale of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales–Second Edition (Sparrow, Cicchetti, & Balla, 2005), participated. Children listened to an unfamiliar fictional narrative and answered comprehension questions afterward. After listening to the narrative a second time, children were asked to retell the narrative without picture support. Narratives were transcribed and analyzed for length, semantic diversity, grammatical complexity and accuracy, intelligibility, inclusion of critical events, and narrative stage.

Results

All children participated in the comprehension task, and 19 children produced an analyzable narrative retell. Compared with published data on typically developing children, significant difficulties were observed in narrative comprehension, intelligibility, and grammatical accuracy. Most of the children told descriptive or action sequences, with only 1 child producing an abbreviated episode. Significant positive correlations were found (a) between performance on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–Fourth Edition (Dunn & Dunn, 2007) and semantic diversity and narrative comprehension and (b) between parent-reported receptive communication competence (Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales–Second Edition) and narrative comprehension.

Conclusions

This study provides preliminary evidence of specific difficulties in oral narrative comprehension and production skills in verbal preschoolers on the autism spectrum.

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Masthead

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Internet-Based Self-Help for Ménière's Disease: Details and Outcome of a Single-Group Open Trial.

Internet-Based Self-Help for Ménière's Disease: Details and Outcome of a Single-Group Open Trial.

Am J Audiol. 2017 Oct 10;:1-11

Authors: Pyykko I, Manchaiah V, Kentala E, Levo H, Juhola M

Abstract
Purpose: In this article, we present the details and the pilot outcome of an Internet-based self-help program for Ménière's disease (MD).
Method: The Norton-Kaplan model is applied to construct a strategic, person-focused approach in the enablement process. The program assesses the disorder profile and diagnosis. In the therapeutic component of the program, the participant defines vision and time frame, inspects confounding factors, determines goals, establishes a strategy, and starts to work on the important problems caused by the disorder. The program works interactively, utilizes collaboration with significant others, and enhances positive thinking. Participants took part in an Internet-based self-help program. Data were collected interactively using open-ended and structured questionnaires on various disease-specific and general health aspects. The pilot outcome of 41 patients with MD was evaluated.
Results: The analysis of the pilot data showed statistically significant improvement in their general health-related quality of life (p < .001). Also, the outcome of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (Cann et al., 2010) showed small to moderate change as a result of the intervention.
Conclusions: The Internet-based self-help program can be helpful in the rehabilitation of patients with MD to supplement medical therapy.

PMID: 29049634 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Auditory Scene Analysis: An Attention Perspective.

Auditory Scene Analysis: An Attention Perspective.

J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2017 Oct 17;60(10):2989-3000

Authors: Sussman ES

Abstract
Purpose: This review article provides a new perspective on the role of attention in auditory scene analysis.
Method: A framework for understanding how attention interacts with stimulus-driven processes to facilitate task goals is presented. Previously reported data obtained through behavioral and electrophysiological measures in adults with normal hearing are summarized to demonstrate attention effects on auditory perception-from passive processes that organize unattended input to attention effects that act at different levels of the system. Data will show that attention can sharpen stream organization toward behavioral goals, identify auditory events obscured by noise, and limit passive processing capacity.
Conclusions: A model of attention is provided that illustrates how the auditory system performs multilevel analyses that involve interactions between stimulus-driven input and top-down processes. Overall, these studies show that (a) stream segregation occurs automatically and sets the basis for auditory event formation; (b) attention interacts with automatic processing to facilitate task goals; and (c) information about unattended sounds is not lost when selecting one organization over another. Our results support a neural model that allows multiple sound organizations to be held in memory and accessed simultaneously through a balance of automatic and task-specific processes, allowing flexibility for navigating noisy environments with competing sound sources.
Presentation Video: http://ift.tt/2x8vHwE.

PMID: 29049599 [PubMed - in process]

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Behavioral Animal Model of the Emotional Response to Tinnitus and Hearing Loss.

Related Articles

Behavioral Animal Model of the Emotional Response to Tinnitus and Hearing Loss.

J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2017 Oct 18;:

Authors: Lauer AM, Larkin G, Jones A, May BJ

Abstract
Increased prevalence of emotional distress is associated with tinnitus and hearing loss. The underlying mechanisms of the negative emotional response to tinnitus and hearing loss remain poorly understood, and it is challenging to disentangle the emotional consequences of hearing loss from those specific to tinnitus in listeners experiencing both. We addressed these questions in laboratory rats using three common rodent anxiety screening assays: elevated plus maze, open field test, and social interaction test. Open arm activity in the elevated plus maze decreased substantially after one trial in controls, indicating its limited utility for comparing pre- and post-treatment behavior. Open field exploration and social interaction behavior were consistent across multiple sessions in control animals. Individual sound-exposed and salicylate-treated rats showed a range of phenotypes in the open field, including reduced entries into the center in some subjects and reduced locomotion overall. In rats screened for tinnitus, less locomotion was associated with higher tinnitus scores. In salicylate-treated animals, locomotion was correlated with age. Sound-exposed and salicylate-treated rats also showed reduced social interaction. These results suggest that open field exploratory activity is a selective measure for identifying tinnitus distress in individual animals, whereas social interaction reflects the general effects of hearing loss. This animal model will facilitate future studies of the structural and functional changes in the brain pathways underlying emotional distress associated with hearing dysfunction, as well as development of novel interventions to ameliorate or prevent negative emotional responses.

PMID: 29047013 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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via IFTTT

Stimulus Characteristics of Single-Word Tests of Children's Speech Sound Production

Purpose

This clinical focus article provides readers with a description of the stimulus characteristics of 12 popular tests of speech sound production.

Method

Using significance testing and descriptive analyses, stimulus items were compared in terms of the number of opportunities for production of all consonant singletons, clusters, and rhotic and nonrhotic vowels of Standard American English; phonetic/phonological and structural complexity; and the presence of bound morphemes.

Results

The tests varied widely in terms of the number of opportunities for production of consonant singletons, clusters, and rhotic and nonrhotic vowels. Most of the tests included only 1 opportunity, scored or unscored, to produce a majority of the consonant singletons in each word position. Only 3 of the tests included stimulus items with 3-element clusters. The majority contained limited opportunities to produce 3- or 4-syllable stimulus items. The tests provided sufficient opportunities for production of most vowels, although most did not score vowels. The tests differed significantly in the complexity of their stimulus items. Most, however, contained a negligible number of items that, with the addition of a bound morpheme, resulted in a word-final cluster.

Conclusion

Most of the tests elicit an inadequate sample with which to conduct a comprehensive phonological analysis.

from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://article/48/4/219/2650813/Stimulus-Characteristics-of-SingleWord-Tests-of
via IFTTT

Developmental Stuttering in Children Who Are Hard of Hearing

Purpose

A number of studies with large sample sizes have reported lower prevalence of stuttering in children with significant hearing loss compared to children without hearing loss. This study used a parent questionnaire to investigate the characteristics of stuttering (e.g., incidence, prevalence, and age of onset) in children who are hard of hearing (CHH).

Method

Three hundred three parents of CHH who participated in the Outcomes of Children With Hearing Loss study (Moeller & Tomblin, 2015) were sent questionnaires asking about their child's history of stuttering.

Results

One hundred ninety-four parents of CHH responded to the survey. Thirty-three CHH were reported to have stuttered at one point in time (an incidence of 17.01%), and 10 children were still stuttering at the time of survey submission (a prevalence of 5.15%). Compared to estimates in the general population, this sample displayed a significantly higher incidence and prevalence. The age of onset, recovery rate, and other characteristics were similar to hearing children.

Conclusions

Based on this sample, mild to moderately severe hearing loss does not appear to be a protective factor for stuttering in the preschool years. In fact, the incidence and prevalence of stuttering may be higher in this population compared to the general population. Despite the significant speech and language needs that children with mild to moderately severe hearing loss may have, speech-language pathologists should appropriately prioritize stuttering treatment as they would in the hearing population.

Supplemental Material

http://ift.tt/2x5UlyF

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Population Estimates, Health Care Characteristics, and Material Hardship Experiences of U.S. Children With Parent-Reported Speech-Language Difficulties: Evidence From Three Nationally Representative Surveys

Purpose

To provide estimates for the prevalence of parent-reported speech-language difficulties in U.S. children, and to describe the levels of health care access and material hardship in this population.

Method

We tabulated descriptive and bivariate statistics using cross-sectional data from the 2007 and 2011/2012 iterations of the National Survey of Children's Health, the 2005/2006 and 2009/2010 iterations of the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs, and the 2004 and 2008 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation.

Results

Prevalence estimates ranged from 1.8% to 5.0%, with data from two of the three surveys preliminarily indicating increased prevalence in recent years. The largest health care challenge was in accessing care coordination, with 49%–56% of children with parent-reported speech-language difficulties lacking full access. Children with parent-reported speech-language difficulties were more likely than peers without any indications of speech-language difficulties to live in households experiencing each measured material hardship and participating in each measured public benefit program (e.g., 20%–22% experiencing food insecurity, compared to 11%–14% of their peers without any indications of speech-language difficulties).

Conclusions

We found mixed preliminary evidence to suggest that the prevalence of parent-reported speech-language difficulties among children may be rising. These children face heightened levels of material hardship and barriers in accessing health care.

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Emergent Literacy Skills in Preschool Children With Hearing Loss Who Use Spoken Language: Initial Findings From the Early Language and Literacy Acquisition (ELLA) Study

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to compare change in emergent literacy skills of preschool children with and without hearing loss over a 6-month period.

Method

Participants included 19 children with hearing loss and 14 children with normal hearing. Children with hearing loss used amplification and spoken language. Participants completed measures of oral language, phonological processing, and print knowledge twice at a 6-month interval. A series of repeated-measures analyses of variance were used to compare change across groups.

Results

Main effects of time were observed for all variables except phonological recoding. Main effects of group were observed for vocabulary, morphosyntax, phonological memory, and concepts of print. Interaction effects were observed for phonological awareness and concepts of print.

Conclusions

Children with hearing loss performed more poorly than children with normal hearing on measures of oral language, phonological memory, and conceptual print knowledge. Two interaction effects were present. For phonological awareness and concepts of print, children with hearing loss demonstrated less positive change than children with normal hearing. Although children with hearing loss generally demonstrated a positive growth in emergent literacy skills, their initial performance was lower than that of children with normal hearing, and rates of change were not sufficient to catch up to the peers over time.

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How African American English-Speaking First Graders Segment and Rhyme Words and Nonwords With Final Consonant Clusters

Purpose

This study explored how typically developing 1st grade African American English (AAE) speakers differ from mainstream American English (MAE) speakers in the completion of 2 common phonological awareness tasks (rhyming and phoneme segmentation) when the stimulus items were consonant–vowel–consonant–consonant (CVCC) words and nonwords.

Method

Forty-nine 1st graders met criteria for 2 dialect groups: AAE and MAE. Three conditions were tested in each rhyme and segmentation task: Real Words No Model, Real Words With a Model, and Nonwords With a Model.

Results

The AAE group had significantly more responses that rhymed CVCC words with consonant–vowel–consonant words and segmented CVCC words as consonant–vowel–consonant than the MAE group across all experimental conditions. In the rhyming task, the presence of a model in the real word condition elicited more reduced final cluster responses for both groups. In the segmentation task, the MAE group was at ceiling, so only the AAE group changed across the different stimulus presentations and reduced the final cluster less often when given a model.

Conclusion

Rhyming and phoneme segmentation performance can be influenced by a child's dialect when CVCC words are used.

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The Oral Narrative Comprehension and Production Abilities of Verbal Preschoolers on the Autism Spectrum

Purpose

This study described the oral narrative comprehension and production skills of verbal preschool-age children on the autism spectrum and investigated correlations between oral narrative ability and norm-referenced language test performance.

Method

Twenty-nine preschool-age children (aged 4;0–5;9 years;months) with autism, who obtained an age-equivalent score of at least 36 months on the expressive communication subscale of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales–Second Edition (Sparrow, Cicchetti, & Balla, 2005), participated. Children listened to an unfamiliar fictional narrative and answered comprehension questions afterward. After listening to the narrative a second time, children were asked to retell the narrative without picture support. Narratives were transcribed and analyzed for length, semantic diversity, grammatical complexity and accuracy, intelligibility, inclusion of critical events, and narrative stage.

Results

All children participated in the comprehension task, and 19 children produced an analyzable narrative retell. Compared with published data on typically developing children, significant difficulties were observed in narrative comprehension, intelligibility, and grammatical accuracy. Most of the children told descriptive or action sequences, with only 1 child producing an abbreviated episode. Significant positive correlations were found (a) between performance on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–Fourth Edition (Dunn & Dunn, 2007) and semantic diversity and narrative comprehension and (b) between parent-reported receptive communication competence (Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales–Second Edition) and narrative comprehension.

Conclusions

This study provides preliminary evidence of specific difficulties in oral narrative comprehension and production skills in verbal preschoolers on the autism spectrum.

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Masthead

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Internet-Based Self-Help for Ménière's Disease: Details and Outcome of a Single-Group Open Trial.

Internet-Based Self-Help for Ménière's Disease: Details and Outcome of a Single-Group Open Trial.

Am J Audiol. 2017 Oct 10;:1-11

Authors: Pyykko I, Manchaiah V, Kentala E, Levo H, Juhola M

Abstract
Purpose: In this article, we present the details and the pilot outcome of an Internet-based self-help program for Ménière's disease (MD).
Method: The Norton-Kaplan model is applied to construct a strategic, person-focused approach in the enablement process. The program assesses the disorder profile and diagnosis. In the therapeutic component of the program, the participant defines vision and time frame, inspects confounding factors, determines goals, establishes a strategy, and starts to work on the important problems caused by the disorder. The program works interactively, utilizes collaboration with significant others, and enhances positive thinking. Participants took part in an Internet-based self-help program. Data were collected interactively using open-ended and structured questionnaires on various disease-specific and general health aspects. The pilot outcome of 41 patients with MD was evaluated.
Results: The analysis of the pilot data showed statistically significant improvement in their general health-related quality of life (p < .001). Also, the outcome of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (Cann et al., 2010) showed small to moderate change as a result of the intervention.
Conclusions: The Internet-based self-help program can be helpful in the rehabilitation of patients with MD to supplement medical therapy.

PMID: 29049634 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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via IFTTT

Auditory Scene Analysis: An Attention Perspective.

Auditory Scene Analysis: An Attention Perspective.

J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2017 Oct 17;60(10):2989-3000

Authors: Sussman ES

Abstract
Purpose: This review article provides a new perspective on the role of attention in auditory scene analysis.
Method: A framework for understanding how attention interacts with stimulus-driven processes to facilitate task goals is presented. Previously reported data obtained through behavioral and electrophysiological measures in adults with normal hearing are summarized to demonstrate attention effects on auditory perception-from passive processes that organize unattended input to attention effects that act at different levels of the system. Data will show that attention can sharpen stream organization toward behavioral goals, identify auditory events obscured by noise, and limit passive processing capacity.
Conclusions: A model of attention is provided that illustrates how the auditory system performs multilevel analyses that involve interactions between stimulus-driven input and top-down processes. Overall, these studies show that (a) stream segregation occurs automatically and sets the basis for auditory event formation; (b) attention interacts with automatic processing to facilitate task goals; and (c) information about unattended sounds is not lost when selecting one organization over another. Our results support a neural model that allows multiple sound organizations to be held in memory and accessed simultaneously through a balance of automatic and task-specific processes, allowing flexibility for navigating noisy environments with competing sound sources.
Presentation Video: http://ift.tt/2x8vHwE.

PMID: 29049599 [PubMed - in process]

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via IFTTT

Behavioral Animal Model of the Emotional Response to Tinnitus and Hearing Loss.

Related Articles

Behavioral Animal Model of the Emotional Response to Tinnitus and Hearing Loss.

J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2017 Oct 18;:

Authors: Lauer AM, Larkin G, Jones A, May BJ

Abstract
Increased prevalence of emotional distress is associated with tinnitus and hearing loss. The underlying mechanisms of the negative emotional response to tinnitus and hearing loss remain poorly understood, and it is challenging to disentangle the emotional consequences of hearing loss from those specific to tinnitus in listeners experiencing both. We addressed these questions in laboratory rats using three common rodent anxiety screening assays: elevated plus maze, open field test, and social interaction test. Open arm activity in the elevated plus maze decreased substantially after one trial in controls, indicating its limited utility for comparing pre- and post-treatment behavior. Open field exploration and social interaction behavior were consistent across multiple sessions in control animals. Individual sound-exposed and salicylate-treated rats showed a range of phenotypes in the open field, including reduced entries into the center in some subjects and reduced locomotion overall. In rats screened for tinnitus, less locomotion was associated with higher tinnitus scores. In salicylate-treated animals, locomotion was correlated with age. Sound-exposed and salicylate-treated rats also showed reduced social interaction. These results suggest that open field exploratory activity is a selective measure for identifying tinnitus distress in individual animals, whereas social interaction reflects the general effects of hearing loss. This animal model will facilitate future studies of the structural and functional changes in the brain pathways underlying emotional distress associated with hearing dysfunction, as well as development of novel interventions to ameliorate or prevent negative emotional responses.

PMID: 29047013 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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via IFTTT

Stimulus Characteristics of Single-Word Tests of Children's Speech Sound Production

Purpose

This clinical focus article provides readers with a description of the stimulus characteristics of 12 popular tests of speech sound production.

Method

Using significance testing and descriptive analyses, stimulus items were compared in terms of the number of opportunities for production of all consonant singletons, clusters, and rhotic and nonrhotic vowels of Standard American English; phonetic/phonological and structural complexity; and the presence of bound morphemes.

Results

The tests varied widely in terms of the number of opportunities for production of consonant singletons, clusters, and rhotic and nonrhotic vowels. Most of the tests included only 1 opportunity, scored or unscored, to produce a majority of the consonant singletons in each word position. Only 3 of the tests included stimulus items with 3-element clusters. The majority contained limited opportunities to produce 3- or 4-syllable stimulus items. The tests provided sufficient opportunities for production of most vowels, although most did not score vowels. The tests differed significantly in the complexity of their stimulus items. Most, however, contained a negligible number of items that, with the addition of a bound morpheme, resulted in a word-final cluster.

Conclusion

Most of the tests elicit an inadequate sample with which to conduct a comprehensive phonological analysis.

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Developmental Stuttering in Children Who Are Hard of Hearing

Purpose

A number of studies with large sample sizes have reported lower prevalence of stuttering in children with significant hearing loss compared to children without hearing loss. This study used a parent questionnaire to investigate the characteristics of stuttering (e.g., incidence, prevalence, and age of onset) in children who are hard of hearing (CHH).

Method

Three hundred three parents of CHH who participated in the Outcomes of Children With Hearing Loss study (Moeller & Tomblin, 2015) were sent questionnaires asking about their child's history of stuttering.

Results

One hundred ninety-four parents of CHH responded to the survey. Thirty-three CHH were reported to have stuttered at one point in time (an incidence of 17.01%), and 10 children were still stuttering at the time of survey submission (a prevalence of 5.15%). Compared to estimates in the general population, this sample displayed a significantly higher incidence and prevalence. The age of onset, recovery rate, and other characteristics were similar to hearing children.

Conclusions

Based on this sample, mild to moderately severe hearing loss does not appear to be a protective factor for stuttering in the preschool years. In fact, the incidence and prevalence of stuttering may be higher in this population compared to the general population. Despite the significant speech and language needs that children with mild to moderately severe hearing loss may have, speech-language pathologists should appropriately prioritize stuttering treatment as they would in the hearing population.

Supplemental Material

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Population Estimates, Health Care Characteristics, and Material Hardship Experiences of U.S. Children With Parent-Reported Speech-Language Difficulties: Evidence From Three Nationally Representative Surveys

Purpose

To provide estimates for the prevalence of parent-reported speech-language difficulties in U.S. children, and to describe the levels of health care access and material hardship in this population.

Method

We tabulated descriptive and bivariate statistics using cross-sectional data from the 2007 and 2011/2012 iterations of the National Survey of Children's Health, the 2005/2006 and 2009/2010 iterations of the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs, and the 2004 and 2008 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation.

Results

Prevalence estimates ranged from 1.8% to 5.0%, with data from two of the three surveys preliminarily indicating increased prevalence in recent years. The largest health care challenge was in accessing care coordination, with 49%–56% of children with parent-reported speech-language difficulties lacking full access. Children with parent-reported speech-language difficulties were more likely than peers without any indications of speech-language difficulties to live in households experiencing each measured material hardship and participating in each measured public benefit program (e.g., 20%–22% experiencing food insecurity, compared to 11%–14% of their peers without any indications of speech-language difficulties).

Conclusions

We found mixed preliminary evidence to suggest that the prevalence of parent-reported speech-language difficulties among children may be rising. These children face heightened levels of material hardship and barriers in accessing health care.

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Emergent Literacy Skills in Preschool Children With Hearing Loss Who Use Spoken Language: Initial Findings From the Early Language and Literacy Acquisition (ELLA) Study

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to compare change in emergent literacy skills of preschool children with and without hearing loss over a 6-month period.

Method

Participants included 19 children with hearing loss and 14 children with normal hearing. Children with hearing loss used amplification and spoken language. Participants completed measures of oral language, phonological processing, and print knowledge twice at a 6-month interval. A series of repeated-measures analyses of variance were used to compare change across groups.

Results

Main effects of time were observed for all variables except phonological recoding. Main effects of group were observed for vocabulary, morphosyntax, phonological memory, and concepts of print. Interaction effects were observed for phonological awareness and concepts of print.

Conclusions

Children with hearing loss performed more poorly than children with normal hearing on measures of oral language, phonological memory, and conceptual print knowledge. Two interaction effects were present. For phonological awareness and concepts of print, children with hearing loss demonstrated less positive change than children with normal hearing. Although children with hearing loss generally demonstrated a positive growth in emergent literacy skills, their initial performance was lower than that of children with normal hearing, and rates of change were not sufficient to catch up to the peers over time.

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How African American English-Speaking First Graders Segment and Rhyme Words and Nonwords With Final Consonant Clusters

Purpose

This study explored how typically developing 1st grade African American English (AAE) speakers differ from mainstream American English (MAE) speakers in the completion of 2 common phonological awareness tasks (rhyming and phoneme segmentation) when the stimulus items were consonant–vowel–consonant–consonant (CVCC) words and nonwords.

Method

Forty-nine 1st graders met criteria for 2 dialect groups: AAE and MAE. Three conditions were tested in each rhyme and segmentation task: Real Words No Model, Real Words With a Model, and Nonwords With a Model.

Results

The AAE group had significantly more responses that rhymed CVCC words with consonant–vowel–consonant words and segmented CVCC words as consonant–vowel–consonant than the MAE group across all experimental conditions. In the rhyming task, the presence of a model in the real word condition elicited more reduced final cluster responses for both groups. In the segmentation task, the MAE group was at ceiling, so only the AAE group changed across the different stimulus presentations and reduced the final cluster less often when given a model.

Conclusion

Rhyming and phoneme segmentation performance can be influenced by a child's dialect when CVCC words are used.

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The Oral Narrative Comprehension and Production Abilities of Verbal Preschoolers on the Autism Spectrum

Purpose

This study described the oral narrative comprehension and production skills of verbal preschool-age children on the autism spectrum and investigated correlations between oral narrative ability and norm-referenced language test performance.

Method

Twenty-nine preschool-age children (aged 4;0–5;9 years;months) with autism, who obtained an age-equivalent score of at least 36 months on the expressive communication subscale of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales–Second Edition (Sparrow, Cicchetti, & Balla, 2005), participated. Children listened to an unfamiliar fictional narrative and answered comprehension questions afterward. After listening to the narrative a second time, children were asked to retell the narrative without picture support. Narratives were transcribed and analyzed for length, semantic diversity, grammatical complexity and accuracy, intelligibility, inclusion of critical events, and narrative stage.

Results

All children participated in the comprehension task, and 19 children produced an analyzable narrative retell. Compared with published data on typically developing children, significant difficulties were observed in narrative comprehension, intelligibility, and grammatical accuracy. Most of the children told descriptive or action sequences, with only 1 child producing an abbreviated episode. Significant positive correlations were found (a) between performance on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–Fourth Edition (Dunn & Dunn, 2007) and semantic diversity and narrative comprehension and (b) between parent-reported receptive communication competence (Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales–Second Edition) and narrative comprehension.

Conclusions

This study provides preliminary evidence of specific difficulties in oral narrative comprehension and production skills in verbal preschoolers on the autism spectrum.

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Masthead

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Novel recessive PDZD7 biallelic mutations in two Chinese families with non-syndromic hearing loss.

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Novel recessive PDZD7 biallelic mutations in two Chinese families with non-syndromic hearing loss.

Am J Med Genet A. 2017 Oct 19;:

Authors: Guan J, Wang H, Lan L, Wang L, Yang J, Xie L, Yin Z, Xiong W, Zhao L, Wang D, Wang Q

Abstract
Autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss (ARNSHL) is a highly heterogeneous genetic condition. PDZD7 has emerged as a new genetic etiology of ARNSHL. Biallelic mutations in the PDZD7 gene have been reported in two German families, four Iranian families, and a Pakistani family with ARNSHL. The effect of PDZD7 on ARNSHL in other population has yet to be elucidated. Two Chinese ARNSHL families, each of which had two affected siblings, were included in this study. The families underwent target region capture and high-throughput sequencing to analyze the exonic, splice-site, and intronic sequences of 128 genes. Furthermore, 1751 normal Chinese individuals served as controls, and 122 Chinese families segregating with apparent ARNSHL, who had been previously excluded for variants in the common deafness genes GJB2 and SLC26A4, were subjected to screening for candidate mutations. We identified a novel homozygous missense mutation (p.Arg66Leu) and novel compound heterozygous frameshift mutations (p.Arg56fsTer24 and p.His403fsTer36) in Chinese families with ARNSHL. This is the first report to identify PDZD7 as an ARNSHL-associated gene in the Chinese population. Our finding could expand the pathogenic spectrum and strengthens the clinical diagnostic role of the PDZD7 gene in ARNSHL patients.

PMID: 29048736 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Prenatal diagnosis of Chudley-McCullough syndrome.

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Prenatal diagnosis of Chudley-McCullough syndrome.

Am J Med Genet A. 2016 Sep;170(9):2426-30

Authors: Chapman T, Perez FA, Ishak GE, Doherty D

Abstract
Chudley-McCullough syndrome (CMS) is an autosomal-recessive disorder characterized by a complex brain malformation and profound congenital sensorineural hearing loss. Postnatal brain imaging findings include ventriculomegaly, partial agenesis of corpus callosum, inferior cerebellar dysplasia, arachnoid cysts, and malformations of cortical development including frontal subcortical heterotopia and polymicrogyria. Prenatal diagnosis of CMS is important due to the markedly less severe neurodevelopmental prognosis compared to disorders with similar brain imaging findings. We report prenatal imaging features that help distinguish CMS from other disorders, including slit-like frontal horns, agenesis of the corpus callosum, frontal subcortical heterotopia, arachnoid cysts, and cerebellar dysplasia. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID: 27312216 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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