Monthly Archives: May 2011
Translation, assessment and deployment of stuttering instruments into different languages: Comments arising from Bakhtiar, et al., Investigation of the reliability of the SSI-3 for preschool Persian- speaking children who stutter [J. Fluency Disorders 35 (2010) 87-91]
Bakhtiar, Seifpanahi, Ansari, Ghanadzade and Packman (2010) reported high inter-, and intra-judge agreement of a translation of the Stuttering Severity Instrument (SSI-3) for preschool Persian-speaking children who stutter. Translation of SSI-3 into Persian is desirable as there is no standardised stuttering severity test for that language. Ultimately, a Persian-based version of SSI-3 may allow clinicians and researchers to track severity changes during treatment. However, there are some shortcomings in methodology in the Bakhtiar et al. study particularly in the conclusions which the authors drew at the end of their paper. The purpose of this note is to alert clinicians and researchers who want to use the Persian version of SSI-3 to these issues as well as to raise some general points for discussion concerning how to go about translating and introducing tests into different language and cultural groups.
from the Journal of Fluency Disorders
Expression of myelin basic protein in the human auditory nerve—An immunohistochemical and comparative study
The pattern of myelination in human spiral ganglion is different from that in other species’ spiral ganglion. The striking differences in myelin outline should be investigated further in combination with its influence on signal coding and preservation properties in man.
from Auris Nasus Larynx
Tinnitus retraining therapy using portable music players
TRT using a PMP had efficacy similar to those of TCI and HA. The murmur of a stream was one of the most effective sounds in TRT. TRT using a PMP as the sound generator can provide the most cost-effective treatment option for tinnitus patients.
from Auris Nasus Larynx
Cortical Processing of Swallowing in ALS Patients with Progressive Dysphagia – A Magnetoencephalographic Study
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rare disease causing degeneration of the upper and lower motor neuron. Involvement of the bulbar motor neurons often results in fast progressive dysphagia. While cortical compensation of dysphagia has been previously shown in stroke patients, this topic has not been addressed in patients suffering from ALS. In the present study, we investigated cortical activation during deglutition in two groups of ALS patients with either moderate or severe dysphagia. Whole-head MEG was employed on fourteen patients with sporadic ALS using a self-paced swallowing paradigm. Data were analyzed by means of time-frequency analysis and synthetic aperture magnetometry (SAM). Group analysis of individual SAM data was performed using a permutation test. We found a reduction of cortical swallowing related activation in ALS patients compared to healthy controls. Additionally a disease-related shift of hemispheric lateralization was observed. While healthy subjects showed bilateral cortical activation, the right sensorimotor cortex was predominantly involved in ALS patients. Both effects were even stronger in the group of patients with severe dysphagia. Our results suggest that bilateral degeneration of the upper motor neuron in the primary motor areas also impairs further adjusted motor areas, which leads to a strong reduction of ‘swallowing related’ cortical activation. While both hemispheres are affected by the degeneration a relatively stronger activation is seen in the right hemisphere. This right hemispheric lateralization of volitional swallowing observed in this study may be the only sign of cortical plasticity in dysphagic ALS patients. It may demonstrate compensational mechanisms in the right hemisphere which is known to predominantly coordinate the pharyngeal phase of deglutition. These results add new aspects to our understanding of the pathophysiology of dysphagia in ALS patients and beyond. The compensational mechanisms observed could be relevant for future research in swallowing therapies.
from PLoS ONE
Association of the rs3743205 variant of DYX1C1 with dyslexia in Chinese children.
Our findings suggest that DYX1C1 is associated with dyslexia in people of Chinese ethnicity in Hong Kong.
It is all me: the effect of viewpoint on visual–vestibular recalibration
Participants performed a visual–vestibular motor recalibration task in virtual reality. The task consisted of keeping the extended arm and hand stable in space during a whole-body rotation induced by a robotic wheelchair. Performance was first quantified in a pre-test in which no visual feedback was available during the rotation. During the subsequent adaptation phase, optical flow resulting from body rotation was provided. This visual feedback was manipulated to create the illusion of a smaller rotational movement than actually occurred, hereby altering the visual–vestibular mapping. The effects of the adaptation phase on hand stabilization performance were measured during a post-test that was identical to the pre-test. Three different groups of subjects were exposed to different perspectives on the visual scene, i.e., first-person, top view, or mirror view. Sensorimotor adaptation occurred for all three viewpoint conditions, performance in the post-test session showing a marked under-compensation relative to the pre-test performance. In other words, all viewpoints gave rise to a remapping between vestibular input and the motor output required to stabilize the arm. Furthermore, the first-person and mirror view adaptation induced a significant decrease in variability of the stabilization performance. Such variability reduction was not observed for the top view adaptation. These results suggest that even if all three viewpoints can evoke substantial adaptation aftereffects, the more naturalistic first-person view and the richer mirror view should be preferred when reducing motor variability constitutes an important issue.
Reading, Laterality, and the Brain: Early Contributions on Reading Disabilities by Sara S. Sparrow
Although best known for work with children and adults with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorders, training in speech pathology and a doctorate in clinical psychology and neuropsychology was the foundation for Sara Sparrow’s long-term interest in reading disabilities. Her first papers were on dyslexia and laterality, and the maturational lag theory of developmental dyslexia proposed with Paul Satz, her mentor. The research program that emerged from this work had a wide impact on early neuropsychological models of reading disabilities. Although Sara went on to research focused on children with other developmental disabilities after she moved to Yale University, this initial research influenced her career- long interests in assessment, developmental models of disabilities, and early screening methods.
Screening for Alzheimer’s Disease Among Illiterate Elderly: Accuracy Analysis for Multiple Instruments
One of the challenges in screening for dementia in developing countries is related to performance differences due to educational and cultural factors. This study evaluated the accuracy of single screening tests as well as combined protocols including the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Verbal Fluency animal category (VF), Clock Drawing test (CDT), and Pfeffer Functional Activities Questionnaire (PFAQ) to discriminate illiterate elderly with and without Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in a clinical sample. Cross-sectional study with 66 illiterate outpatients diagnosed with mild and moderate AD and 40 illiterate normal controls. Diagnosis of AD was based on NINCDS-ADRDA. All patients were submitted to a diagnostic protocol including a clinical interview based on the CAMDEX sections. ROC curves area analyses were carried out to compare sensitivity and specificity for the cognitive tests to differentiate the two groups (each test separately and in two by two combinations). Scores for all cognitive (MMSE, CDT, VF) and functional assessments (PFAQ) were significantly different between the two groups (p < 0.001). The best screening instruments for this sample of illiterate elderly were the MMSE and the PFAQ. The cut-off scores for the MMSE, VF, CDT, and PFAQ were 17.5, 7.5, 2.5, and 11.5, respectively. The most sensitive combination came from the MMSE and PFAQ (94.1%), and the best specificity was observed with the combination of the MMSE and CDT (89%). Illiterate patients can be successfully screened for AD using well-known screening instruments, especially in combined protocols.
from the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease
Integration of vestibular and proprioceptive signals for spatial updating
Spatial updating during self-motion typically involves the appropriate integration of both visual and non-visual cues, including vestibular and proprioceptive information. Here, we investigated how human observers combine these two non-visual cues during full-stride curvilinear walking. To obtain a continuous, real-time estimate of perceived position, observers were asked to continuously point toward a previously viewed target in the absence of vision. They did so while moving on a large circular treadmill under various movement conditions. Two conditions were designed to evaluate spatial updating when information was largely limited to either proprioceptive information (walking in place) or vestibular information (passive movement). A third condition evaluated updating when both sources of information were available (walking through space) and were either congruent or in conflict. During both the passive movement condition and while walking through space, the pattern of pointing behavior demonstrated evidence of accurate egocentric updating. In contrast, when walking in place, perceived self-motion was underestimated and participants always adjusted the pointer at a constant rate, irrespective of changes in the rate at which the participant moved relative to the target. The results are discussed in relation to the maximum likelihood estimation model of sensory integration. They show that when the two cues were congruent, estimates were combined, such that the variance of the adjustments was generally reduced. Results also suggest that when conflicts were introduced between the vestibular and proprioceptive cues, spatial updating was based on a weighted average of the two inputs.
Reading in English as a First or Second Language: The Case of Grade 3 Spanish, Portuguese, and English Speakers
This study compared variables related to reading ability in Grade 3 students learning English as a first language (L1) and second language (L2). The students learning English as an L2 came from diverse backgrounds, with different levels of bilingualism in Spanish and English or Portuguese and English before they entered school. Both within-group and between-group differences emerged in comparing Spanish children from two cohorts, and in comparing the Spanish group to the Portuguese and English groups. Models predicting reading comprehension found differences with respect to the contribution of receptive vocabulary, decoding, and print exposure in the L1 and L2 groups, depending on the L2 students’ bilingual language status and language acquisition experiences. Additionally, print exposure was more highly related to comprehension in the lowest performing L2 groups. Implications and future directions are discussed.
Artic Week on SpeechTechie! Audio 2.0
Today, I am thinking on the days when I used to have to remember to bring my plug-in cassette tape recorder home in order to transcribe language samples, and there weren’t many options to use audio in therapy with kids. Or those options caused your computer to run out of memory and crash. Bye, bye to those days!
from Speech Techie.com
SmallTalk Apps
Lingraphica’s apps for the iPod touch, iPhone, and iPad add the benefit of extreme portability to the communication and unlimited practice offered by the Lingraphica. And, they’re all free.
from Aphasia.com
Swimmer’s ear costs millions in healthcare each year: CDC report
Swimmer’s ear (otitis externa) is a common infection that accounts for almost $500 million in U.S. health-care costs each year, according to a new government report. The report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, published in the agency’s May 20 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, says this condition results in 2.4 million doctor visits annually in the United States, each visit costing an average of $200.
from News-Medical.net
FDA: Don’t give SimplyThick to premature babies
SimplyThick, a thickening agent that helps infants with swallowing, may cause a potentially life-threatening intestinal disorder
from CBS News
