Over range of ADHD behavior, genes major force on reading achievement, environment on math

Research by Lee A. Thompson, chair of Case Western Reserve University’s Psychological Sciences Department, and colleagues found that the link between Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and academic performance involves a complex interaction of genes and environment.

from EurekAlert.org

Voice Box Prototype Utilizes Magnets to Detect Vocal Patterns

Designed especially for patients who have lost their larynx due to cancer or other diseases, the system uses magnets inside the mouth to detect facial movements that correspond to words.

from MedGadget.com

Adjust and Fine-tune HearPod Digital Hearing Aids From The Comfort of Home

HearPod’s new Clear Choice design allows users to adjust and fine-tune their own hearing aid from the comfort of home. In less than a minute HearPod wearers can adjust their hearing aid volume up or down 12 db from their prescription.

from PRWeb.com

Arytenoid rotation and nerve-muscle pedicle transfer in paralytic dysphonia

Conclusions:
AA + modified NMP improves both short- and long-term voice outcomes in unilateral vocal fold paralysis patients. Therefore, AA + modified NMP is an effective surgical combination for the treatment of severe paralytic dysphonia.

from The Laryngoscope

Orthographic processing and reading comprehension among Arabic speaking mainstream and LD children

Two cohorts of mainstream children (grades 2–5) and one cohort of children with learning disabilities (LD; grades 3–5), all Arabic speaking children in Kuwait, were given measures of reading comprehension fluency and orthographic discrimination to assess the relationship between the two. Additional measures of phonological processing (decoding and awareness), speed of processing (rapid naming) and memory (visual as well as phonological/verbal tasks) were included either because these have been found to be predictive of Arabic literacy or to provide an assessment of alternative interpretations of any influence of the orthographic task. The findings indicated that the orthographic measure predicted variability in the comprehension fluency over-and-above that predicted by the other measures in the study. This was significant in the older mainstream children (grades 4 and 5) when controlling for phonological processing, but was not in the younger grades (2 and 3) where experience text that incorporating short vowel markers is dominant. The LD group showed little evidence of an influence of phonological processing but did of orthographic processing. The findings are discussed in terms of the skills required to process Arabic literacy and potential causes of literacy learning difficulties among Arabic children. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

from Dyslexia

Viagra deafness—Sensorineural hearing loss and phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors

Conclusion:
There is increasing evidence that PDE-5 inhibitors may induce sensorineural hearing loss via plausible physiological mechanisms. There needs to be more awareness of this disabling side effect among healthcare professionals responsible for prescribing this drug.

from The Laryngoscope

Brain Stem Responses Evoked by Stimulation of the Mature Cochlear Nucleus With an Auditory Brain Stem Implant

Conclusions: The presence of an intraoperative EABR corresponded well to the presence of auditory electrodes. The absence of an EABR from stimulating subsections of the array was not; however, a good indicator for the absence of auditory electrodes and the EABR from such stimulation would not be of assistance in identifying the nonauditory sections of the array to exclude in behavioral fitting of the device. The morphology of the EABR did not relate to site of stimulation. More peaks in the EABR was associated with a greater number of electrodes with auditory sensations, suggesting that correct positioning of the ABI activated more auditory subsystems within the cochlear nucleus. The intraoperative EABR thresholds did not correlate with the behavioral T and C levels and could not be used to assist in device fitting.

from Ear and Hearing

Brain Stem Responses Evoked by Stimulation With an Auditory Brain Stem Implant in Children With Cochlear Nerve Aplasia or Hypoplasia

Conclusions: The presence of an intraoperative EABR was a good indicator for the location of electrodes on the ABI array that provided auditory sensations. The morphology of the EABR was often variable within and between test sessions. The postoperative EABR thresholds did correlate with the behavioral T and C levels and could be used to assist with initial device fitting.

from Ear and Hearing

Clinical Evaluation of Signal-to-Noise Ratio–Based Noise Reduction in Nucleus® Cochlear Implant Recipients

Conclusions: The noise reduction algorithm was successful in improving sentence perception in speech-weighted noise, as well as in more dynamic types of background noise. The algorithm is currently being trialed in a behind-the-ear processor for take-home use.

from Ear and Hearing

Cochlear Dead Regions in Typical Hearing Aid Candidates: Prevalence and Implications for Use of High-Frequency Speech Cues

Conclusions: Although about one-third of listeners with flat or sloping moderate to severe hearing losses tested positive for at least one DR, there was no evidence to support a proposal for reducing high-frequency gain in hearing aid fittings for these types of listeners. Making high frequencies more audible was helpful, on average, regardless of DR status. It is recommended that field trials be undertaken in which subjects with and without DRs wear hearing aids in daily life. This type of study would produce higher level evidence about best practice in hearing aid fitting for patients with flat or sloping moderate to severe hearing loss who test positive for DRs.

from Ear and Hearing

Development of Auditory Processing in 6- to 11-Yr-Old Children

Conclusions: Data suggest that the perception of different auditory stimuli occurs and develops using rather independent mechanisms, even for tasks that are closely related in procedure. While individual children can perform reliably on several distinct tasks, differences between individuals on the same tasks can be large. Because some of the youngest children perform reliably across time, at or near adult levels, immaturity between 6 and 11 yrs of age, as reflected in group statistics, reflects poor performance of some individual children rather than obligate, age-related deficits in AP. While several of the tests used were found to have potential clinical applicability, because of their reliability and ability to distinguish between individuals, it is currently unclear how performance on such tests relates to everyday listening skills.

from Ear and Hearing

Electrically Evoked Compound Action Potential Measures for Virtual Channels Versus Physical Electrodes

Conclusions: Results from this study suggest that virtual channels produce neural recruitment patterns with properties similar to those elicited by the adjacent physical electrodes.

from Ear and Hearing

Evidence-Based Approach for Making Cochlear Implant Recommendations for Infants With Residual Hearing

Conclusions: Results suggest that recommendation for implantation can be made confidently for children presenting with bilateral profound hearing loss. For children with unaided PTA hearing levels in the range of 75 to 90 dB HL, a recommendation for implantation can also be made, provided that a 75% chance of improvement in hearing outcome is an acceptable level of benefit to the family and clinician. Children presenting with PTA hearing levels better than 75 dB HL should be encouraged to continue with binaural HA use.

from Ear and Hearing

Level Discrimination of Speech Sounds by Hearing-Impaired Individuals With and Without Hearing Amplification

Conclusions: There is a clear difficulty in judging the level differences between words or sentences relative to differences between broadband noises, but this difficulty was found for both hearing-impaired and normal-hearing individuals and had no relation to hearing aid compression measures. The lack of a clear adverse effect of hearing aid compression on level discrimination is suggested to be due to the low effective compression ratios of currently fit hearing aids.

from Ear and Hearing

Listening Preference for Child-Directed Speech Versus Nonspeech Stimuli in Normal-Hearing and Hearing-Impaired Infants After Cochlear Implantation

Conclusions: The CI device provides sufficient information for the infants with CIs to follow early language processes similarly to NH infants.

from Ear and Hearing