Temporal parameters of speech production in bilingual speakers with apraxic or phonemic paraphasic errors

from Aphasiology

Background: The four-level framework of speech production (Van der Merwe, 1997) suggests that language of production of a bilingual speaker can be viewed as a contextual factor increasing the complexity of speech production. A comparison of first- versus second-language speech production in individuals with apraxia of speech or phonemic paraphasic speech errors may clarify the difference in the underlying disorders in these two populations.

Aims: This study examined the effect of first- versus second-language (L1 versus L2) speech production on specific temporal parameters of speech in bilingual normal speakers and bilingual speakers with either apraxic or phonemic paraphasic speech errors. The purpose was to determine if second-language speech production will differentiate between normal speakers and speakers with speech-level neurogenic disorders and between speakers with phonological planning or speech motor planning and programming disorders.

Methods and Procedures: Three persons with apraxia of speech (AOS), three with phonemic paraphasias (PP), and five normal-speaking participants were included in the study. Participants were required to read phonemically similar L1 and L2 CVC words in a two-word carrier phrase, five times each, at a normal and fast speaking rate. Acoustic analysis of on-target productions included vowel duration, utterance duration, utterance onset duration, and voice onset time. Data processing involved a descriptive approach using a measure of central tendency – the mean. Intra-participant comparisons were made across contexts (L1, L2, fast speaking rate, and normal speaking rate).

Outcomes and Results: Five participants with AOS and PP seemed to be influenced by speaking in L2 to a greater extent than the normal speakers and one participant with PP, in that they more frequently experienced difficulty with durational adjustments (decreasing duration in the fast speaking rate) in L2 than in L1. Furthermore, the participants with AOS or PP also exhibited a greater extent of durational adjustment in L1 than in L2.

Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that L2 speech production is more challenging than speech production in L1 for participants with either AOS or PP. The current study could not differentiate between all speakers with a disorder in phonological planning and speakers with a motor planning and programming disorder. Individual patterns appear to exist in speakers with PP. Increased processing demands seem to impact on the phonological planning and the speech motor planning and programming levels of speech production.

Chapter 25 Cognitive neuroscience studies of semantic memory in Alzheimer’s disease

from Progress in Brain Research

Semantic memory is the component of long-term memory that stores our concepts about the world. The disruption of semantic memory as a result of brain damage may have profound negative consequences on an individual’s ability to name objects and process concepts. This can be disrupted as a result of many forms of brain damage, particularly Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The current paper reviews research demonstrating that semantics deteriorates early in AD, particularly on effortful semantic tasks. There is a “category effect”, meaning that AD preferentially affects concepts dealing with living things and abstract concepts compared to non-living objects and verbs/actions. While this pattern of deterioration, specific for AD, may reflect a breakdown within a distributed semantic system (where living things are distinguished by a high rate of inter-correlations between concepts or by a particular mode of being learned), it is equally possible that there is a regional distribution of semantic knowledge, with living things preferentially involving left temporal regions which become damaged early on in AD. Evidence from patients with strokes and semantic dementia, as well as activation studies in normal individuals, implicates the left posterior temporal region in semantic processing for pictures, abstract words, and concrete words. AD individuals, who are impaired in a variety of semantic tasks, show functional deficits in this area, and fail to activate it normally.

Comparison of performance on two nonverbal intelligence tests by adolescents with and without language impairment

from the Journal of Communication Disorders

No abstract available.

Noise levels during aerobics and the potential effects on distortion product otoacoustic emissions

from the Journal of Communication Disorders

The purpose of this study was to measure noise levels during aerobics classes and to examine how outer hair cell (OHC) function, using distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs), may be affected by this exposure. Fifty individuals (48 women and 2 men, ages 19–41 years) participated in 50-min aerobics classes. Noise levels were measured using noise dosimeters placed on the collar near the test ear. The audiometric protocol consisted of a questionnaire, otoscopy, screening tympanometry, and pre- and post-aerobics DPOAEs. The minute-by-minute peak noise levels varied between 90.5 and 99.7 dBA. The overall mean noise level for the aerobics classes was 87.1 dBA (range = 83.4–90.7 dBA). Mean post-aerobic DPOAE levels were lower at most frequencies with a statistically significant 1.4 dB decrease at 6000 Hz. Results of this project, even with limited statistical significance, should be viewed cautiously.

Intellectual Ability of Mandarin-Speaking Children Using Cochlear Implants

from Audiology & Neuro-Otology

The aim of this study was to assess the verbal and performance intelligence of young Mandarin-speaking cochlear implant users with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC). We also analyzed whether related factors helped develop verbal and performance IQs. We studied 60 children implanted with Nucleus 24 devices; the children represented a consecutive sample of every implantee aged 6 or older from 2002 to 2006. All subjects had 1 year to 8 years and 7 months of implant experience. Five children with known neurological, developmental delay and multiple handicaps were excluded. Intellectual functions were evaluated using the Mandarin version of the WISC-III, which includes 5 subsets for verbal IQ (information, comprehension, similarities, arithmetic and vocabulary) and 5 subsets for performance IQ (picture completion, picture arrangement, block design, object assembly and coding). After conversion, we found that the mean verbal IQ was 85.1 ± 19.9 (range 56-133), and the mean performance IQ was 99.2 ± 15.9 (range 61-131). The distribution of verbal IQ was significantly different from that of the hearing population. A much larger proportion (32%) falls into the category of ‘intellectual deficiency’ and a relatively smaller proportion in the ‘average’ and ‘above average’ level. As for performance IQ, the distribution was not significantly different from the norms. Regarding the possibly related factors, univariate and multivariate linear regression showed that the verbal IQ was significantly affected by gender (female > male, p = 0.004), side of implantation (bilateral > left > right, p = 0.017) and two speech test scores (PB score, p = 0.036; sentence, p = 0.002), but not by age at implantation (p = 0.621) or length of implant usage (p = 0.480). Only a moderate correlation (r = 0. 49) was found between verbal and performance IQ. In conclusion, we have demonstrated that the performance IQ for the cochlear implant users is not different from their counterparts with normal hearing. However, the distribution of verbal IQ significantly shifts to the left. Our findings suggest that the verbal IQ test may just be another measurement of spoken language outcomes or learning skills and therefore may not represent the ‘true intelligence’ of these cochlear implant users.

Molecular Characterization of Putative Modulatory Factors in Two Spanish Families with A1555G Deafness

from Audiology & Neuro-Otology

The aim of this work is to characterize possible modifying factors in 2 large families carrying the A1555G mitochondrial mutation. The heteroplasmy of the mutation, the presence of aminoglycosides, the cosegregation with other mitochondrial mutations, the proposed linkage in chromosome 8 and the association with TRMU and MTO1 genes were studied. None of the mentioned modifying factors were related with the phenotype presentation of A1555G mutation. However, TRMU G28T single nucleotide polymorphism is present in 1 of the studied families.

Sensitivity to Interaural Level Difference and Loudness Growth with Bilateral Bimodal Stimulation

from Audiology & Neuro-Otology

The interaural level difference (ILD) is an important cue for the localization of sound sources. The sensitivity to ILD was measured in 10 users of a cochlear implant (CI) in one ear and a hearing aid (HA) in the other severely impaired ear. For simultaneous presentation of a pulse train on the CI side and a sinusoid on the HA side the just noticeable difference (JND) in ILD and loudness growth functions were measured. The mean JND for pitch-matched electric and acoustic stimulation was 1.7 dB. A linear fit of the loudness growth functions on a decibel-versus-microampere scale shows that the slope depends on the subject’s dynamic ranges.

Testing the Diagnostic Value of Electrical Ear Canal Stimulation in Cochlear Implant Candidates by Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

from Audiology & Neuro-Otology

Prior to cochlear implant (CI) surgery in children, the integrity of the auditory pathway is sometimes assessed by electrical ear canal stimulation (ECS). However, the evaluation of reactions as auditory is subjective. To test the prognostic value of ECS, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed during ECS vicariously in 18 adult CI candidates. Activation of the primary auditory cortex was detected in 9 of 16 cases when auditory sensations during ECS occurred, and tended to be more bilaterally distributed in CI candidates than in normal-hearing controls. ECS sensations only tended to correlate with fMRI activations. However, solely frequency discrimination during electrical stimulation predicted CI outcome, but neither other auditory sensations nor fMRI activations did so satisfactorily, which limits the diagnostic value of these measures. Instead, preoperative residual hearing (nonamplified and amplified) was a robust predictor for CI benefit.

Is there a syllable frequency effect in aphasia or in apraxia of speech or both?

from Aphasiology

Background: The observation of a syllable frequency effect on production latencies in healthy speakers has been an argument in favour of stored syllables in speech production. In Levelt, Roelofs, and Meyer’s (1999) model of speech production, syllabic representations are accessed during phonetic encoding. Neurolinguistic studies have provided convergent evidence of a syllable frequency effect on production accuracy in speakers with acquired language disorders. However, the observation that syllable frequency also affected production in aphasic speakers with a pre-phonetic impairment (conduction aphasia and Wernicke’s aphasia) seems in contradiction to the phonetic locus of syllabic representations.

Aims: We illustrate the points of convergences and divergences between psycholinguistic and neurolinguistic results on the locus of the syllable frequency effect and explore whether a syllable frequency effect is observed in apraxia of speech (AoS) and in conduction aphasia when participants are tested with the same material.

Methods & Procedures: Reading and repetition was elicited with monosyllabic words (Experiment A) and with bisyllabic pseudowords (Experiment B) composed of high- or low-frequency syllables. Three speakers with AoS and three speakers with conduction aphasia participated in each experiment.

Outcomes & Results: Both subgroups displayed a tendency for a syllable frequency effect on production accuracy. A significant effect of syllable frequency was observed in each experiment in a participant with AoS and in a participant with conduction aphasia.

Conclusions: The data confirmed similar syllable frequency effects in speakers with AoS and in conduction aphasia when tested with the same eliciting material. We discuss these apparently contradictory observations and suggest an explanation for the origin of the syllable frequency effect in these two populations.

Cochlear implantation in individuals with Usher type 1 syndrome

from the International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the occurrence of the Usher type 1 (USH1) gene mutations in cochlear implant recipients with deaf-blind Usher syndrome, and to assess the potential effect of these genes and other factors on the therapeutic outcome. STUDY DESIGN: Case series study of nine patients with the phenotypic diagnosis of USH1. METHODS AND SUBJECTS: Mutation analysis of four USH1 genes (MYO7A, USH1C, CDH23, and PCDH15) by single strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP) and direct sequencing methods. Pre- and post-implantation audiologic tests including pure tone audiometry, speech perception measures, and qualitative assessment of auditory performance. Nine USH1 patients who received their cochlear implants at the University of Miami Ear Institute, Miami, FL, USA, and at the Department of Cochlear Implants, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK. RESULTS: DNA samples from five of the nine patients were available for mutation analysis. Three of the five patients were found to carry USH1 mutations including two with a truncated mutation in CDH23 and one being a digenic inheritance with mutations in CDH23 and PCDH15. We may have failed to detect mutations in the amplicons analyzed, as neither SSCP nor direct sequencing, even combined, detects all mutations present. Our failure to detect mutations in all five patients may also confirm the genetic heterogeneity of USH1 and additional USH1 loci remain to be mapped. Pre-implantation assessment indicated that all of the subjects were pre-linguistically profoundly deaf, had no consistent response to sound, had varying degrees of auditory-oral habilitation. Age at implantation ranged from 2 to 11 years. There was post-implantation improvement in sound detection and speech recognition measures in closed-set format in all patients. Children implanted at an age of 3 years or less showed good open-set speech perception with lip-reading. All patients are implant users. Those patients who do not show open-set perception still use the cochlear implant as an adjunct of lip-reading or total communication. CONCLUSION: Testing for mutations in the USH1 genes allows early identification and intervention of children with USH1; timely intervention is important to maximize the development of useful auditory-oral communication skills prior to the onset of the visual impairment.

Disturbance of automatic auditory change detection in dementia associated with Parkinson’s disease: A mismatch negativity study

from Neurobiology of Aging

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether automatic auditory change detection, as measured by the mismatch negativity (MMN) event-related potential waveform, differs in dementia associated with Parkinson’s disease (PDD) and dementia with Lewy-bodies (DLB) as compared to Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease without dementia (PD) and healthy control subjects (HC). METHOD: Seventeen DLB, 15 PDD, 16 PD, 16 AD patients and 18 HC subjects participated. A passive MMN event-related potential paradigm and an oddball-distractor reaction time paradigm were presented. RESULTS: The PDD patients had reduced MMN area and amplitude compared to the DLB, PD, and the HC groups. The MMN area correlated significantly with number of missed target stimuli in the oddball-distractor task, and the PDD group missed targets significantly more often than the DLB group. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that PDD patients to a larger degree than patients with DLB have a deficit of automatic auditory change detection that contributes to impairment in their ability to selectively attend and respond to deviant auditory stimuli.

The effect of implantation age on visual attention skills

from the International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the visual attention skills of deaf children with cochlear implants and to determine whether age at implantation had any impact on visual attention skills. SUBJECT AND METHODS: Thirty children with cochlear implants aged 6 and 11 years were evaluated and were compared with age matched 36 normal hearing children. The children with cochlear implants were analyzed in to two groups according to their age at implantation; under and at/over 4 years old. The Gordon Diagnostic System (GDS) was used in order to evaluate visual attention skills of cochlear implanted (Group 1 and Group 2) and children with normal hearing. The number of correct responses, extraneous button presses (commission errors) and the number of omission errors or the failure to respond to target stimuli which were recorded by GDS was used to evaluate the visual attention skills of the subjects. Also six different types of commission errors (19X, XX9, XX1, X1X, X9X, XXX) were analyzed and compared both for normal and cochlear implant user children. RESULTS: Concerning the total number of correct response, omission and commission errors no statistical difference was found between two implanted groups. Besides, both groups with cochlear implantation differed from normal hearing peers on the total number of correct responses, omission errors (p0.017). Besides, Group 1 and 2 made more errors in types 19X, XX9 and XXX, XX9 compared with the control group (p<0.017). Group 2 who had their implants after age of 4 years old had more commission errors than the control group (p<0.017) and positive correlation was found between the total commission errors and XX9 error type with age at implantation. These findings show that children who had their implants at older ages made more commission errors and XX9 type of commission error. The children who were implanted after 4 years old were less mature; unsuccessful in controlling their impulsive behaviors and more careless where they can not get enough benefit from social and environmental motives compared with their normal hearing peers. CONCLUSION: This present research points out the positive effect of early implantation on visual attention and the possible adversities such as impulsivity, over-impatience and attention deficits which have been previously suggested as preventive or slowing down factors for the pace of auditory-verbal therapy for cochlear implantees. Assuming that the results of this study support the theory of insufficiency which suggested that the deprivation in auditory system would also adversely affect cognitive structures involved in intermodal processing the importance of early implantation is underlined. If early cochlear implantation will be carried out especially at the very critical period of language development (before age of four), this will help the child, in his/her future life, not only with his/her hearing skills and communication but for his/her attention skills and behavior.

The effect of stapes mobility on hearing outcome and which procedure to choose in fixed stapes in children tympanosclerosis

from the International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology

Objectives
Our objective was to evaluate the features of tympanosclerosis in children and to determine the effect of stapes mobility and the type of one-stage operation on hearing outcomes.

Materials and methods
Fifty-one children who were performed different types of single-stage otologic surgery for tympanosclerosis between January 1997 and December 2006 were retrospectively chart reviewed. The children were divided into two groups according to the mobility of ossicular chain, especially the stapes. Stapes fixed group was also evaluated in detail according to the type of surgery that was performed. Patients who had previous ventilation tube insertion, tympanic membrane parasynthesis or any other otologic surgery were excluded from the study. Improvement of the hearing by at least 10 dB and air-bone gap less than 20 dB were accepted as success criteria after 24 months of follow-up period.

Results
The air conduction levels, and the air-bone gap values of both groups were improved significantly after the single-stage operations. Pure tone averages pre- and postoperatively for stapes mobile group were 45.55 ± 15.96 and 34.50 ± 16.64 dB (p = 0.002); and in stapes fixed group these were respectively 43.97 ± 13.45 and 33.16 ± 12.14 dB (p < 0.001). When pre- and postoperative air-bone gap levels were evaluated it was seen that in both groups they were improved more than 10 dB, from 34.10 ± 11.37 to 23.05 ± 12.32 dB (p = 0.002) in stapes mobile group and from 35.29 ± 11.65 to 24.48 ± 12.50 dB (p < 0.001) in stapes fixed group. In stapes fixed group air-bone gap was less than 20 dB in 11 of 23 (47.8%) patients who had mobilization and 3 of 8 (37.5%) patients who had small fenestra stapedotomy operations. Although it was not statistically significant, gain was more than 10 dB only in 2 of 8 (25.0%) patients in the stapedotomy group but 14 of 23 (60.9%) patients in mobilization group (p = 0.698 for ABG and p = 0.220 for gain). The change in the bone conduction levels were improved 0.75 dB in group 1 and got worse 0.52 dB in group 2 and this was not statistically significant (p = 0.239).

Conclusions
In this study about children, the status of stapes and the place of tympanosclerotic mass had no significant negative effect on hearing improvement. You can perform mobilization in one-stage if you are experienced and have to prefer second-stage surgery if stapes is fixed and stapedectomy is needed.

The effect of task type on fundamental frequency in children

from the International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology

Objective
The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of task type on the fundamental frequency (F0) produced by young children. Fundamental frequency is a parameter which describes the rate of vocal fold vibration. The influence of task type on F0 values is important for health professionals designing and implementing assessment protocols for children with voice disorders.

Methods
Forty-eight healthy children between the ages of 5.0 and 7.11 years were evaluated in this study. Each child completed four tasks used to elicit a voice sample for subsequent analysis of F0. The tasks included: (a) sustaining the vowel/a/(Vowel), (b) sustaining the vowel embedded in a word at the end of a phrase (Phrase), (c) repeating a sentence (Sentence), and (d) counting from 1 to 10 (Counting). Each child was evaluated by one of two clinicians who had an equal number of years of training and were the same age and gender.

Results
A repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to examine the influence of task type on F0 values. The results revealed a significant difference in F0 between the four elicitation tasks (p = .002). Pair wise comparisons revealed that Counting elicited higher F0 values compared to Phrase (p = .018) and Sentence tasks (p = .001). There were no significant interaction effects for task by age, gender, or clinician who evaluated the child (p > .05).

Conclusions
The results of this study revealed that task type does significantly influence F0 values in young children. This finding is clinically important as it indicates that the same task should be used to monitor changes in the voice over time in relationship to surgical or behavioral interventions.

The universal newborn hearing screening program at the University Hospital of Ferrara: Focus on costs and software solutions

from the International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology

In the present paper, the authors report the results of the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening (UNHS) project at the University Hospital of Ferrara. A total of 6759 full-term newborns and a total of 1016 NICU babies were tested at the University Hospital of Ferrara, from January 2000 to December 2006. The paper presents information from clinically acceptable screening procedures developed and tested during the 6 years of the program and addresses two questions pertinent to hearing screening: (i) the cost-estimate of a UNHS program based on European economical and administration premises and (ii) the development of a database-structure for the evaluation of the UNHS/NHS performance and the individual patient tracking.