Ear selection and pediatric cochlear implants: A preliminary examination of speech production outcomes

from the International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology

Objective
The goal of the current study was to examine whether ear selection (left versus right) for cochlear implantation results in significant differences in speech production outcomes.

Methods
Ten children with right-ear implants were compared to five children with left-ear implants on intelligibility of speech produced in single words, sentences, and conversation as well as on accuracy of speech sounds produced during administration of a single word articulation test and in conversational speech.

Results
The children with right-ear implants performed significantly better than those with left-ear implants but only on the single word tasks. No significant differences were observed at the sentence or conversational speech levels.

Conclusion
Findings are discussed relative to the possibility that the obtained ear of implantation differences (if real) may disappear over time. Such a conclusion is quite tentative however given the small sample size in the current study. Such a limitation may also explain why no differences were obtained for the connected speech measures. Further study of ear selection outcomes is clearly indicated.

New Hi-Tech Device To Give Instant Hearing Boost, UK

from Medical News Today.com

A new device that gives people a hi-tech hearing boost when they most need it is to be launched on the high street.

Animals used to provide speech therapy

from Topix.net

Michelle Kolenda is the barn manager at Nature’s Edge Therapy near Cameron. The center, which is hoping to expand with a retreat facility, uses animals to help patients with speech problems.

Encoding, Rehearsal, and Recall in Signers and Speakers: Shared Network but Differential Engagement

from Cerebral Cortex

Short-term memory (STM), or the ability to hold verbal information in mind for a few seconds, is known to rely on the integrity of a frontoparietal network of areas. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to ask whether a similar network is engaged when verbal information is conveyed through a visuospatial language, American Sign Language, rather than speech. Deaf native signers and hearing native English speakers performed a verbal recall task, where they had to first encode a list of letters in memory, maintain it for a few seconds, and finally recall it in the order presented. The frontoparietal network described to mediate STM in speakers was also observed in signers, with its recruitment appearing independent of the modality of the language. This finding supports the view that signed and spoken STM rely on similar mechanisms. However, deaf signers and hearing speakers differentially engaged key structures of the frontoparietal network as the stages of STM unfold. In particular, deaf signers relied to a greater extent than hearing speakers on passive memory storage areas during encoding and maintenance, but on executive process areas during recall. This work opens new avenues for understanding similarities and differences in STM performance in signers and speakers.

Listener’s Brain Predicts Speaker’s Words In MRI Study

from Medical News Today.com

Scientists at the University of Rochester have shown for the first time that our brains automatically consider many possible words and their meanings before we’ve even heard the final sound of the word.

Breakthrough in understanding of speech offers hope to the deaf

fromYahoo! Health

Scientists on Sunday said intelligible speech is learnt in part through nerve signals from the vocal tract, a discovery that could open up an ambitious avenue of therapy for the deaf.

Stuttering best approached with affirmative action

from Monsters and Critics.com

Joachim Haas’ school years were a nightmare because of a speech impediment which led to him being ridiculed by his classmates.

Prosthetic Ears Boost Hearing After Injury

from HealthCentral.com

Prosthetic ears can help improve hearing and speech recognition for people who’ve lost an outer ear due to injury or cancer surgery, a new U.S. study reports.

Voice Outcome in T1a Midcord Glottic Carcinoma

from Archives of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery

Objective To compare voice quality after radiotherapy or endoscopic laser surgery in patients with similar T1a midcord glottic carcinomas according to a validated multidimensional protocol.

Design Retrospective cohort study.

Setting University cancer referral center.

Patients Two cohorts of consecutive patients willing to participate after treatment for primary T1a midcord glottic carcinoma with laser surgery (18 of 23 eligible) or radiotherapy (16 of 18 eligible).

Main Outcome Measures Posttreatment voice quality was evaluated according to a multidimensional voice protocol based on validated European Laryngological Society recommendations, including perceptual, acoustic, aerodynamic, and stroboscopic analyses, together with patient self-assessment using the Voice Handicap Index.

Results Approximately half of the patients had mild to moderate voice dysfunction in the perceptual analysis (53% [8 of 15] in the radiotherapy group and 61% [11 of 18] in the laser surgery group) and on the Voice Handicap Index (44% [7 of 16] in the radiotherapy group and 56% [10 of 18] in the laser surgery group). The voice profile in the laser surgery group was mainly breathy; in the radiotherapy group, it was equally breathy and rough, with a trend for more jitter in the acoustic analysis. There was no statistical difference in the severity of voice dysfunction between the groups in any of the variables.

Conclusions Endoscopic laser surgery offers overall voice quality equivalent to that of radiotherapy for patients with T1a midcord glottic carcinoma, although specific voice profiles may ultimately be different for the 2 modalities. We believe that endoscopic laser surgery is the preferred treatment in these patients because it provides oncologic control similar to that of radiotherapy and the additional benefits of lower costs, shorter treatment time, and the possibility of successive procedures.

The Importance of Auricular Prostheses for Speech Recognition

from Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery

Objectives To examine the effects of an auricular prosthesis on sound levels at the entrance of the ear canal by measuring the auricular prosthesis transfer function (APTF) and to determine the effect of the prosthesis on speech recognition in noisy hearing conditions.

Methods Eight prostheses were used to measure the APTF. A microphone at the entrance of the ear canal measured sound pressure levels with the prosthesis present or absent while the head was rotated 360° at 30° increments. The Hearing in Noise Test was modified by the APTF to simulate the absence of an auricular prosthesis. Speech recognition was measured by testing 11 subjects with the unmodified Hearing in Noise Test and the modified Hearing in Noise Test.

Results The APTF changed with the head’s position relative to the speaker. The mean (SD) maximal gain provided by an auricular prosthesis was 8.1 (2.7) dB at 4.6 (1.0) kHz and 9.7 (1.7) dB at 11.5 (0.9) kHz at 0° rotation. During speech testing, the auricular prosthesis improved the mean (SD) signal to noise ratio by 1.7 (1.7) dB at 0° (P < .001), 0.9 (2.2) dB at 90° (P =.04), and 0.5 (2.3) dB at 180° (P =.52).

Conclusions The acoustic gain provided by an auricular prosthesis increases speech recognition in noisy environments. Auricular prostheses not only restore aesthetics but also improve hearing.

Evaluation of Pediatric Sensorineural Hearing Loss With Magnetic Resonance Imaging

from Archives of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery

Objective To evaluate the incidence and type of intracranial and inner ear abnormalities in children with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) identified with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and stratified by the degree and type of SNHL.

Design Retrospective review of medical records and MRIs.

Setting Tertiary care children’s hospital.

Patients A total of 227 children aged 1 month to 17 years (mean age, 5.3 years; male to female ratio, 1:1) with a diagnosis of SNHL underwent MRI from June 1,1996, to June 1, 2002. Of these children, 170 had clinical information available and technically adequate MRIs and were included in the study.

Intervention Magnetic resonance imaging.

Main Outcome Measure Identification of an abnormality of the intracranial contents, inner ear, and cochlear nerve.

Results Of the 170 children, 101 (59%) had bilateral SNHL and 69 (41%) had unilateral SNHL, comprising 271 ears with SNHL. Abnormalities of the inner ear were found in 108 ears (40%) with 87 (32%) having abnormalities of the cochlea, which were considered mild in 63 (23%) and moderate to severe in 24 (9%). Forty-nine of 271 ears (18%) with SNHL demonstrated an either absent (26/49 [53%]) or deficient (23/49 [47%]) cochlear nerve. Ears with severe and profound SNHL had more abnormalities than ears with mild and moderate SNHL (66/138 [48%] vs 23/80 [29%]; P = .006), and children having ears with unilateral moderate, severe, or profound SNHL had more inner ear abnormalities than children with bilateral moderate, severe, or profound SNHL (28/45 [62%] vs 54/144 [38%]; P = .004).

Conclusions The overall incidence of inner ear abnormalities in ears of children with SNHL evaluated by MRI is 40%. The most common abnormalities seen were an abnormal cochlea and abnormal cochlear nerve. Children with severe and profound SNHL have a greater percentage of inner ear anomalies than children with mild or moderate SNHL. Children with unilateral hearing loss have a greater percentage of inner ear anomalies than children with bilateral SNHL.

The Role of the Posterior Superior Temporal Sulcus in Audiovisual Processing

from Cerebral Cortex

In this study we investigate previous claims that a region in the left posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) is more activated by audiovisual than unimodal processing. First, we compare audiovisual to visual–visual and auditory–auditory conceptual matching using auditory or visual object names that are paired with pictures of objects or their environmental sounds. Second, we compare congruent and incongruent audiovisual trials when presentation is simultaneous or sequential. Third, we compare audiovisual stimuli that are either verbal (auditory and visual words) or nonverbal (pictures of objects and their associated sounds). The results demonstrate that, when task, attention, and stimuli are controlled, pSTS activation for audiovisual conceptual matching is 1) identical to that observed for intramodal conceptual matching, 2) greater for incongruent than congruent trials when auditory and visual stimuli are simultaneously presented, and 3) identical for verbal and nonverbal stimuli. These results are not consistent with previous claims that pSTS activation reflects the active formation of an integrated audiovisual representation. After a discussion of the stimulus and task factors that modulate activation, we conclude that, when stimulus input, task, and attention are controlled, pSTS is part of a distributed set of regions involved in conceptual matching, irrespective of whether the stimuli are audiovisual, auditory–auditory or visual–visual.

Modelling the architecture of phonetic plans: Evidence from apraxia of speech

from Language and Cognitive Processes

In theories of spoken language production, the gestural code prescribing the movements of the speech organs is usually viewed as a linear string of holistic, encapsulated, hard-wired, phonetic plans, e.g., of the size of phonemes or syllables. Interactions between phonetic units on the surface of overt speech are commonly attributed to either the phonological encoding stage or the peripheral mechanisms of the speech apparatus. Apraxia of speech is a neurogenic disorder which is considered to interfere with the mechanisms of phonetic encoding. Analyses of apraxic speech errors have suggested that phonetic representations have a non-linear, hierarchically nested structure. This article presents a non-linear probabilistic model of the phonetic code, which embraces units from a sub-segmental level up to the level of metrical feet. The model is verified on the basis of accuracy data from a large sample of apraxic speakers.

Impaired Opening of the Upper Esophageal Sphincter in Patients with Medullary Infarctions

from Dysphagia

Abstract The aim of this study was to report on nine dysphagic patients with medullary infarction and to evaluate swallowing characteristics based on the location of the lesions.We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of these nine patients. The medullary lesions were midlateral (three patients), dorsolateral (one patient), inferodorsolateral (four patients), and paramedian (one patient). The levels of the lesions were upper (four patients), middle (two patients), upper and middle (two patients), and middle and lower medulla (one patient). Dysphagia after medullary infarction was more common in patients with upper or middle medullary level and dorsolateral medullary level lesions. The common findings on videofluoroscopic swallowing studies in patients with lateral medullary infarctions were impaired upper esophageal sphincter opening, aspiration from pyriform sinuses’ residue caused by pharyngeal weakness, and multiple swallowing to clear boluses from the pharynx to the esophagus. In patients with medullary infarctions, the lesion levels and loci and their related clinical findings can be useful in predicting dysphagia and aspiration. Because severe dysphagia with serious complication is very common in patients with medullary infarctions, active diagnostic and therapeutic approaches are needed.