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Schirmer J, Wolpert S, Dapper K, Rühle M, Wertz J, Wouters M, Eldh T, Bader K, Singer W, Gaudrain E, Başkent D, Verhulst S, Braun C, Rüttiger L, Munk MHJ, Dalhoff E, Knipper M. Neural Adaptation at Stimulus Onset and Speed of Neural Processing as Critical Contributors to Speech Comprehension Independent of Hearing Threshold or Age. J Clin Med 2024; 13:2725. [PMID: 38731254 PMCID: PMC11084258 DOI: 10.3390/jcm13092725] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2024] [Revised: 04/24/2024] [Accepted: 04/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Background: It is assumed that speech comprehension deficits in background noise are caused by age-related or acquired hearing loss. Methods: We examined young, middle-aged, and older individuals with and without hearing threshold loss using pure-tone (PT) audiometry, short-pulsed distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (pDPOAEs), auditory brainstem responses (ABRs), auditory steady-state responses (ASSRs), speech comprehension (OLSA), and syllable discrimination in quiet and noise. Results: A noticeable decline of hearing sensitivity in extended high-frequency regions and its influence on low-frequency-induced ABRs was striking. When testing for differences in OLSA thresholds normalized for PT thresholds (PTTs), marked differences in speech comprehension ability exist not only in noise, but also in quiet, and they exist throughout the whole age range investigated. Listeners with poor speech comprehension in quiet exhibited a relatively lower pDPOAE and, thus, cochlear amplifier performance independent of PTT, smaller and delayed ABRs, and lower performance in vowel-phoneme discrimination below phase-locking limits (/o/-/u/). When OLSA was tested in noise, listeners with poor speech comprehension independent of PTT had larger pDPOAEs and, thus, cochlear amplifier performance, larger ASSR amplitudes, and higher uncomfortable loudness levels, all linked with lower performance of vowel-phoneme discrimination above the phase-locking limit (/i/-/y/). Conslusions: This study indicates that listening in noise in humans has a sizable disadvantage in envelope coding when basilar-membrane compression is compromised. Clearly, and in contrast to previous assumptions, both good and poor speech comprehension can exist independently of differences in PTTs and age, a phenomenon that urgently requires improved techniques to diagnose sound processing at stimulus onset in the clinical routine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jakob Schirmer
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Tübingen, Elfriede-Aulhorn-Str. 5, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; (J.S.); (S.W.); (K.D.); (M.R.); (J.W.); (T.E.); (K.B.); (W.S.); (L.R.)
| | - Stephan Wolpert
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Tübingen, Elfriede-Aulhorn-Str. 5, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; (J.S.); (S.W.); (K.D.); (M.R.); (J.W.); (T.E.); (K.B.); (W.S.); (L.R.)
| | - Konrad Dapper
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Tübingen, Elfriede-Aulhorn-Str. 5, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; (J.S.); (S.W.); (K.D.); (M.R.); (J.W.); (T.E.); (K.B.); (W.S.); (L.R.)
- Department of Biology, Technical University Darmstadt, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Moritz Rühle
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Tübingen, Elfriede-Aulhorn-Str. 5, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; (J.S.); (S.W.); (K.D.); (M.R.); (J.W.); (T.E.); (K.B.); (W.S.); (L.R.)
| | - Jakob Wertz
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Tübingen, Elfriede-Aulhorn-Str. 5, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; (J.S.); (S.W.); (K.D.); (M.R.); (J.W.); (T.E.); (K.B.); (W.S.); (L.R.)
| | - Marjoleen Wouters
- Department of Information Technology, Ghent University, Technologiepark 126, 9052 Zwijnaarde, Belgium; (M.W.); (S.V.)
| | - Therese Eldh
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Tübingen, Elfriede-Aulhorn-Str. 5, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; (J.S.); (S.W.); (K.D.); (M.R.); (J.W.); (T.E.); (K.B.); (W.S.); (L.R.)
| | - Katharina Bader
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Tübingen, Elfriede-Aulhorn-Str. 5, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; (J.S.); (S.W.); (K.D.); (M.R.); (J.W.); (T.E.); (K.B.); (W.S.); (L.R.)
| | - Wibke Singer
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Tübingen, Elfriede-Aulhorn-Str. 5, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; (J.S.); (S.W.); (K.D.); (M.R.); (J.W.); (T.E.); (K.B.); (W.S.); (L.R.)
| | - Etienne Gaudrain
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique UMR5292, Inserm U1028, Université Lyon 1, Centre Hospitalier Le Vinatier-Bâtiment 462–Neurocampus, 95 Boulevard Pinel, 69675 Bron CEDEX, France;
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), Hanzeplein 1, BB21, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands;
| | - Deniz Başkent
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), Hanzeplein 1, BB21, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands;
| | - Sarah Verhulst
- Department of Information Technology, Ghent University, Technologiepark 126, 9052 Zwijnaarde, Belgium; (M.W.); (S.V.)
| | - Christoph Braun
- Magnetoencephalography-Centre and Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Otfried-Müller-Straße 27, 72076 Tübingen, Germany;
- Center for Mind and Brain Research, University of Trento, Palazzo Fedrigotti-corso Bettini 31, 38068 Rovereto, Italy
| | - Lukas Rüttiger
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Tübingen, Elfriede-Aulhorn-Str. 5, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; (J.S.); (S.W.); (K.D.); (M.R.); (J.W.); (T.E.); (K.B.); (W.S.); (L.R.)
| | - Matthias H. J. Munk
- Department of Biology, Technical University Darmstadt, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry & Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Calwerstraße 14, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Ernst Dalhoff
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Tübingen, Elfriede-Aulhorn-Str. 5, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; (J.S.); (S.W.); (K.D.); (M.R.); (J.W.); (T.E.); (K.B.); (W.S.); (L.R.)
| | - Marlies Knipper
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Tübingen, Elfriede-Aulhorn-Str. 5, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; (J.S.); (S.W.); (K.D.); (M.R.); (J.W.); (T.E.); (K.B.); (W.S.); (L.R.)
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Kose S, Turer F, Inal Kaleli I, Calik Senturk HN, Ozuysal Uyar DH, Bildik T. The Relationship Between Social Skills and Sensory Profile, Emotion Regulation, and Empathizing/Systemizing in Adolescents on the Autism Spectrum. J Autism Dev Disord 2023:10.1007/s10803-023-06190-5. [PMID: 38127185 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-023-06190-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
This study aims to evaluate the relationship between social skills and sensory features, emotion regulation, and empathy in adolescents on the autism spectrum. One hundred and twenty-three adolescents were included in the study (50 autistic, 73 typically developing-TD adolescents). The participants filled out the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile (AASP) and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. Parents of the participants completed the Child Empathy and Systemizing Quotient (EQ-C/SQ-C) and Autism-Social Skills Profile (ASSP) scales. Social reciprocity, social participation/avoidance, ASSP total scores, empathy and systemizing scores were lower, and detrimental social behaviors, low registration sensory profile scores were higher in the autism spectrum group. While a difference between genders was observed in sensory sensitivity, sensation avoiding, low registration quadrants and empathy scores, no gender and group interaction was found in any domain. Social skill total scores were correlated to sensation seeking and low registration sensory features, empathy, systemizing, and reappraisal emotion regulation scores. A hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis was conducted controlling for group and gender, sensation seeking (p = .032, β = 0.138), low registration (p = .012, β = - 0.215) of the AASP, and empathy (p < .001, β = 0.555) and systemizing (p = .033, β = 0.138) scores of the EQ/SQ-C was found to significantly predict social skill total scores. Although emotional regulation strategies may play a role, sensory processing features and empathy and systemizing skills seem to be the more significant contributors to social skills during adolescence. Interventions targeting sensory processing and especially improving empathy and systematization skills may positively affect social skills in adolescents on the autism spectrum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sezen Kose
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Ege University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Furkan Turer
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Corlu State Hospital, Tekirdag, Turkey.
| | - Ipek Inal Kaleli
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Ege University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Hilal Nur Calik Senturk
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Ege University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Damla Hazal Ozuysal Uyar
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Ege University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Tezan Bildik
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Ege University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey
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Shin J, Noh S, Park J, Sung JE. Syntactic complexity differentially affects auditory sentence comprehension performance for individuals with age-related hearing loss. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1264994. [PMID: 37965654 PMCID: PMC10641445 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1264994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Objectives This study examined whether older adults with hearing loss (HL) experience greater difficulties in auditory sentence comprehension compared to those with typical-hearing (TH) when the linguistic burdens of syntactic complexity were systematically manipulated by varying either the sentence type (active vs. passive) or sentence length (3- vs. 4-phrases). Methods A total of 22 individuals with HL and 24 controls participated in the study, completing sentence comprehension test (SCT), standardized memory assessments, and pure-tone audiometry tests. Generalized linear mixed effects models were employed to compare the effects of sentence type and length on SCT accuracy, while Pearson correlation coefficients were conducted to explore the relationships between SCT accuracy and other factors. Additionally, stepwise regression analyses were employed to identify memory-related predictors of sentence comprehension ability. Results Older adults with HL exhibited poorer performance on passive sentences than on active sentences compared to controls, while the sentence length was controlled. Greater difficulties on passive sentences were linked to working memory capacity, emerging as the most significant predictor for the comprehension of passive sentences among participants with HL. Conclusion Our findings contribute to the understanding of the linguistic-cognitive deficits linked to age-related hearing loss by demonstrating its detrimental impact on the processing of passive sentences. Cognitively healthy adults with hearing difficulties may face challenges in comprehending syntactically more complex sentences that require higher computational demands, particularly in working memory allocation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Jee Eun Sung
- Department of Communication Disorders, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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Åkerlund S, Håkansson A, Claesdotter-Knutsson E. An auditory processing advantage enables communication in less complex social settings: Signs of an extreme female brain in children and adolescents being assessed for Autism Spectrum Disorders. Front Psychol 2023; 13:1068001. [PMID: 36710746 PMCID: PMC9880279 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1068001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2022] [Accepted: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Background The underlying factors of the male predominance in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are largely unknown, although a female advantage in social communication has been pointed out as a potential factor. Recently, attention has been given to ASD as a sensory processing disorder, focusing on the audio-visual temporal processing paramount for the development of communication. In ASD, a deviant audio-visual processing has been noted, resulting in difficulties interpreting multisensory information. Typically Developed (TD) females have shown an enhanced language processing in unisensory situations compared to multisensory situations. We aim to find out whether such an advantage also can be seen in girls within the ASD population, and if so, is it related to social communication skills? Method Forty children (IQ > 85), 20 females (mean age = 13.90 years, SD = 2.34) and 20 males (mean age = 12.15 years, SD = 2.83) triaged for an ASD assessment were recruited from a child and youth psychiatric clinic in Sweden. Using The Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) we looked at associations with child performance on the Integrated Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Test (IVA-2). Results An auditory advantage in the female group was associated with less rated problems in social communications in unisensory processing whereas in multisensory processing an auditory dominance was associated with more rated problems in Social Awareness. In the male group, a visual dominance was associated with more rated problems in Social Rigidity. Conclusion A female unisensory processing advantage in ASD could very well be explaining the male domination in ASD. However, the social difficulties related to multisensory processing indicate that ASD females might be struggling as hard as males in more complex settings. Implications on the assessment procedure are discussed.
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Rönnberg J, Holmer E, Rudner M. Cognitive Hearing Science: Three Memory Systems, Two Approaches, and the Ease of Language Understanding Model. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2021; 64:359-370. [PMID: 33439747 DOI: 10.1044/2020_jslhr-20-00007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this study was to conceptualize the subtle balancing act between language input and prediction (cognitive priming of future input) to achieve understanding of communicated content. When understanding fails, reconstructive postdiction is initiated. Three memory systems play important roles: working memory (WM), episodic long-term memory (ELTM), and semantic long-term memory (SLTM). The axiom of the Ease of Language Understanding (ELU) model is that explicit WM resources are invoked by a mismatch between language input-in the form of rapid automatic multimodal binding of phonology-and multimodal phonological and lexical representations in SLTM. However, if there is a match between rapid automatic multimodal binding of phonology output and SLTM/ELTM representations, language processing continues rapidly and implicitly. Method and Results In our first ELU approach, we focused on experimental manipulations of signal processing in hearing aids and background noise to cause a mismatch with LTM representations; both resulted in increased dependence on WM. Our second-and main approach relevant for this review article-focuses on the relative effects of age-related hearing loss on the three memory systems. According to the ELU, WM is predicted to be frequently occupied with reconstruction of what was actually heard, resulting in a relative disuse of phonological/lexical representations in the ELTM and SLTM systems. The prediction and results do not depend on test modality per se but rather on the particular memory system. This will be further discussed. Conclusions Related to the literature on ELTM decline as precursors of dementia and the fact that the risk for Alzheimer's disease increases substantially over time due to hearing loss, there is a possibility that lowered ELTM due to hearing loss and disuse may be part of the causal chain linking hearing loss and dementia. Future ELU research will focus on this possibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jerker Rönnberg
- Linnaeus Centre HEAD, Swedish Institute for Disability Research Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping University, Sweden
| | - Emil Holmer
- Linnaeus Centre HEAD, Swedish Institute for Disability Research Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping University, Sweden
| | - Mary Rudner
- Linnaeus Centre HEAD, Swedish Institute for Disability Research Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping University, Sweden
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Kurthen I, Meyer M, Schlesewsky M, Bornkessel-Schlesewsky I. Individual Differences in Peripheral Hearing and Cognition Reveal Sentence Processing Differences in Healthy Older Adults. Front Neurosci 2020; 14:573513. [PMID: 33177981 PMCID: PMC7596743 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2020.573513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2020] [Accepted: 09/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
When viewed cross-sectionally, aging seems to negatively affect speech comprehension. However, aging is a heterogeneous process, and variability among older adults is typically large. In this study, we investigated language comprehension as a function of individual differences in older adults. Specifically, we tested whether hearing thresholds, working memory, inhibition, and individual alpha frequency would predict event-related potential amplitudes in response to classic psycholinguistic manipulations at the sentence level. Twenty-nine healthy older adults (age range 61-76 years) listened to English sentences containing reduced relative clauses and object-relative clauses while their electroencephalogram was recorded. We found that hearing thresholds and working memory predicted P600 amplitudes early during reduced relative clause processing, while individual alpha frequency predicted P600 amplitudes at a later point in time. The results suggest that participants with better hearing and larger working memory capacity simultaneously activated both the preferred and the dispreferred interpretation of reduced relative clauses, while participants with worse hearing and smaller working memory capacity only activated the preferred interpretation. They also suggest that participants with a higher individual alpha frequency had a higher likelihood of successfully reanalysing the sentence toward the reduced relative clause reading than participants with a lower individual alpha frequency. By contrast, we found no relationship between object-relative clause processing and working memory or hearing thresholds. Taken together, the results support the view that older adults employ different strategies during auditory sentence processing dependent on their hearing and cognitive abilities and that there is no single ability that uniformly predicts sentence processing outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ira Kurthen
- Developmental Psychology: Infancy and Childhood, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Martin Meyer
- Neuropsychology, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Cognitive Psychology Unit, Institute of Psychology, University of Klagenfurt, Klagenfurt, Austria
| | - Matthias Schlesewsky
- Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience Research Hub, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia
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