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Qi T, Mandelli ML, Pereira CLW, Wellman E, Bogley R, Licata AE, Chang EF, Oganian Y, Gorno-Tempini ML. Anatomical and behavioral correlates of auditory perception in developmental dyslexia. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.05.09.539936. [PMID: 37214875 PMCID: PMC10197694 DOI: 10.1101/2023.05.09.539936] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Developmental dyslexia is typically associated with difficulties in basic auditory processing and in manipulating speech sounds. However, the neuroanatomical correlates of auditory difficulties in developmental dyslexia (DD) and their contribution to individual clinical phenotypes are still unknown. Recent intracranial electrocorticography findings associated processing of sound amplitude rises and speech sounds with posterior and middle superior temporal gyrus (STG), respectively. We hypothesize that regional STG anatomy will relate to specific auditory abilities in DD, and that auditory processing abilities will relate to behavioral difficulties with speech and reading. One hundred and ten children (78 DD, 32 typically developing, age 7-15 years) completed amplitude rise time and speech in noise discrimination tasks. They also underwent a battery of cognitive tests. Anatomical MRI scans were used to identify regions in which local cortical gyrification complexity correlated with auditory behavior. Behaviorally, amplitude rise time but not speech in noise performance was impaired in DD. Neurally, amplitude rise time and speech in noise performance correlated with gyrification in posterior and middle STG, respectively. Furthermore, amplitude rise time significantly contributed to reading impairments in DD, while speech in noise only explained variance in phonological awareness. Finally, amplitude rise time and speech in noise performance were not correlated, and each task was correlated with distinct neuropsychological measures, emphasizing their unique contributions to DD. Overall, we provide a direct link between the neurodevelopment of the left STG and individual variability in auditory processing abilities in neurotypical and dyslexic populations.
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2
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Calcaterra V, Schneider L, Baresi S, Bodini F, Bona F, Chillemi C, De Silvestri A, Zanelli S, Zuccotti G. Specific Learning Disorders in Children and Adolescents with Obesity. CHILDREN (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 10:1595. [PMID: 37892258 PMCID: PMC10605066 DOI: 10.3390/children10101595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2023] [Revised: 08/28/2023] [Accepted: 09/23/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023]
Abstract
Specific learning disorders (SLDs) are the most frequently diagnosed developmental disorders in childhood. Different neurocognitive patterns have been found in patients with overweight and obesity, but no data on childhood obesity and SLDs have been reported. To increase our understanding of the relationship between neuropsychological developmental and obesity, we assessed the prevalence of SLD in a pediatric population with obesity. We retrospectively included 380 children and adolescents with obesity. For all participants, auxological, metabolic, demographic features, relationship and social skills, anamnestic data on pregnancy and the perinatal period, stages of development and family medical history were reviewed. SLD was defined according to the DSM-5 criteria. A group of 101 controls of normal weight was included. The overall prevalence of SLD was 10.8%, and SLD was more prevalent in patients with obesity (p < 0.001), with male predominance (p = 0.01). SGA was associated with SLD (p = 0.02). Speech retardation (p < 0.001), limited relationships with peers (p < 0.001) and didactic support (p < 0.001) were noted in the SLD group compared to the group without SLD. A higher prevalence of family history of neuropsychiatric disorders was observed in the SLD group (p = 0.04). A higher fasting glucose level was detected in patients with obesity and SLD compared to subjects without SLD (p = 0.01). An association between obesity and SLD could not be excluded, and an overlap of pathogenic factors for both conditions should be considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valeria Calcaterra
- Department of Internal Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
- Pediatric Department, Buzzi Children’s Hospital, 20154 Milano, Italy; (L.S.); (F.B.); (F.B.); (C.C.); (S.Z.); (G.Z.)
| | - Laura Schneider
- Pediatric Department, Buzzi Children’s Hospital, 20154 Milano, Italy; (L.S.); (F.B.); (F.B.); (C.C.); (S.Z.); (G.Z.)
| | - Stefano Baresi
- Pediatric Department, Buzzi Children’s Hospital, 20154 Milano, Italy; (L.S.); (F.B.); (F.B.); (C.C.); (S.Z.); (G.Z.)
| | - Francesca Bodini
- Pediatric Department, Buzzi Children’s Hospital, 20154 Milano, Italy; (L.S.); (F.B.); (F.B.); (C.C.); (S.Z.); (G.Z.)
| | - Federica Bona
- Pediatric Department, Buzzi Children’s Hospital, 20154 Milano, Italy; (L.S.); (F.B.); (F.B.); (C.C.); (S.Z.); (G.Z.)
| | - Claudia Chillemi
- Pediatric Department, Buzzi Children’s Hospital, 20154 Milano, Italy; (L.S.); (F.B.); (F.B.); (C.C.); (S.Z.); (G.Z.)
| | - Annalisa De Silvestri
- Biometry & Clinical Epidemiology, Scientific Direction, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy;
| | - Sara Zanelli
- Pediatric Department, Buzzi Children’s Hospital, 20154 Milano, Italy; (L.S.); (F.B.); (F.B.); (C.C.); (S.Z.); (G.Z.)
| | - Gianvincenzo Zuccotti
- Pediatric Department, Buzzi Children’s Hospital, 20154 Milano, Italy; (L.S.); (F.B.); (F.B.); (C.C.); (S.Z.); (G.Z.)
- Department of Biomedical and Clinical Science, University of Milano, 20157 Milano, Italy
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3
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Patatas JM, De Rycke J, De Bosscher V, Kons RL. It's a Long Way to the Top: Determinants of Developmental Pathways in Paralympic Sport. Adapt Phys Activ Q 2021; 38:605-625. [PMID: 34404027 DOI: 10.1123/apaq.2020-0147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2020] [Revised: 03/30/2021] [Accepted: 04/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The literature suggests that the current athlete development models do not reflect the multifaceted developmental pathways in Paralympic sport. This study aimed to analyze how parasport athletes progress through developmental phases of an athletic career pathway by comparing differences in their trajectories based on the nature of the impairment (acquired or congenital), age, and sex. A total of 345 para-athletes representing 15 sports completed an online survey. Results showed that the developmental phases for athletes with acquired impairment are of shorter duration, taking 4.5 years to progress from the attraction to the elite phase, while athletes with congenital impairment take 6 years. Athletes with congenital impairment start in parasport approximately 8 years younger and win medals in international competitions 7 years earlier than athletes with acquired impairment. Insights gathered in this study have the potential to enhance further thinking toward the genesis of specific models of para-athlete development.
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Shen H, Kenney L, Smith SS. Increased Dendritic Branching of and Reduced δ-GABA A Receptor Expression on Parvalbumin-Positive Interneurons Increase Inhibitory Currents and Reduce Synaptic Plasticity at Puberty in Female Mouse CA1 Hippocampus. Front Cell Neurosci 2020; 14:203. [PMID: 32733208 PMCID: PMC7363981 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2020.00203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2020] [Accepted: 06/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Parvalbumin positive (PV+) interneurons play a pivotal role in cognition and are known to be regulated developmentally and by ovarian hormones. The onset of puberty represents the end of a period of optimal learning when impairments in synaptic plasticity are observed in the CA1 hippocampus of female mice. Therefore, we tested whether the synaptic inhibitory current generated by PV+ interneurons is increased at puberty and contributes to these deficits in synaptic plasticity. To this end, the spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic current (sIPSC) was recorded using whole-cell patch-clamp techniques from CA1 pyramidal cells in the hippocampal slice before (PND 28–32) and after the onset of puberty in female mice (~PND 35–44, assessed by vaginal opening). sIPSC frequency and amplitude were significantly increased at puberty, but these measures were reduced by 1 μM DAMGO [1 μM, (D-Ala2, N-MePhe4, Gly-ol)-enkephalin], which silences PV+ activity via μ-opioid receptor targets. At puberty, dendritic branching of PV+ interneurons in GAD67-GFP mice was increased, while expression of the δ subunit of the GABAA receptor (GABAR) on these interneurons decreased. Both frequency and amplitude of sIPSCs were significantly increased in pre-pubertal mice with reduced δ expression, suggesting a possible mechanism. Theta burst induction of long-term potentiation (LTP), an in vitro model of learning, is impaired at puberty but was restored to optimal levels by DAMGO administration, implicating inhibition via PV+ interneurons as one cause. Administration of the neurosteroid/stress steroid THP (30 nM, 3α-OH, 5α-pregnan-20-one) had no effect on sIPSCs. These findings suggest that phasic inhibition generated by PV+ interneurons is increased at puberty when it contributes to impairments in synaptic plasticity. These results may have relevance for the changes in cognitive function reported during early adolescence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui Shen
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY, United States.,Research Institute of Neurology, General Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, Heping District, Tianjin, China
| | - Lindsay Kenney
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY, United States.,Program in Neural and Behavioral Science, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY, United States
| | - Sheryl S Smith
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY, United States.,The Robert F. Furchgott Center for Neural and Behavioral Science, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY, United States
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5
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Auditory processing deficit in individuals with dyslexia: A meta-analysis of mismatch negativity. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 116:396-405. [PMID: 32610180 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.06.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2019] [Revised: 06/21/2020] [Accepted: 06/25/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Several previous studies have used mismatch negativity (MMN) to examine the auditory processing deficit in individuals with dyslexia. However, researchers have not clearly determined whether the deficit is general or specific and how it potentially changes with age. Meta-analysis was adopted to quantitatively identify the auditory processing deficit in individuals with dyslexia. By analysing 81 results within 25 publications that employed passive oddball paradigms to explore auditory processing in individuals with dyslexia, we identified that MMN impairment in auditory processing of speech was observed in children (Cohen's d = 0.296) and adults with dyslexia (Cohen's d = 0.486). Besides, adults with dyslexia showed atypical auditory processing of non-speech (Cohen's d = 0.409), which appeared to be related to the types of stimuli. Based on these findings, for individuals with dyslexia, the auditory processing deficit in speech will persist into adulthood, and the auditory processing deficit is general in adults with dyslexia. Because few studies used appropriate non-speech stimuli to examine the auditory processing in children with dyslexia, future studies should focus more on this area.
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6
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De Vos A, Vanvooren S, Ghesquière P, Wouters J. Subcortical auditory neural synchronization is deficient in pre-reading children who develop dyslexia. Dev Sci 2020; 23:e12945. [PMID: 32034978 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2018] [Revised: 02/03/2020] [Accepted: 02/04/2020] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Auditory processing of temporal information in speech is sustained by synchronized firing of neurons along the entire auditory pathway. In school-aged children and adults with dyslexia, neural synchronization deficits have been found at cortical levels of the auditory system, however, these deficits do not appear to be present in pre-reading children. An alternative role for subcortical synchronization in reading development and dyslexia has been suggested, but remains debated. By means of a longitudinal study, we assessed cognitive reading-related skills and subcortical auditory steady-state responses (80 Hz ASSRs) in a group of children before formal reading instruction (pre-reading), after 1 year of formal reading instruction (beginning reading), and after 3 years of formal reading instruction (more advanced reading). Children were retrospectively classified into three groups based on family risk and literacy achievement: typically developing children without a family risk for dyslexia, typically developing children with a family risk for dyslexia, and children who developed dyslexia. Our results reveal that children who developed dyslexia demonstrate decreased 80 Hz ASSRs at the pre-reading stage. This effect is no longer present after the onset of reading instruction, due to an atypical developmental increase in 80 Hz ASSRs between the pre-reading and the beginning reading stage. A forward stepwise logistic regression analysis showed that literacy achievement was predictable with an accuracy of 90.4% based on a model including three significant predictors, that is, family risk for dyslexia (R = .31), phonological awareness (R = .23), and 80 Hz ASSRs (R = .26). Given that (1) abnormalities in subcortical ASSRs preceded reading acquisition in children who developed dyslexia and (2) subcortical ASSRs contributed to the prediction of literacy achievement, subcortical auditory synchronization deficits may constitute a pre-reading risk factor in the emergence of dyslexia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Astrid De Vos
- Department of Neurosciences, Research Group Experimental ORL, KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Sophie Vanvooren
- Department of Neurosciences, Research Group Experimental ORL, KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Pol Ghesquière
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jan Wouters
- Department of Neurosciences, Research Group Experimental ORL, KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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7
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Mattingly MM, Donell BM, Rosen MJ. Late maturation of backward masking in auditory cortex. J Neurophysiol 2018; 120:1558-1571. [PMID: 29995598 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00114.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Speech perception relies on the accurate resolution of brief, successive sounds that change rapidly over time. Deficits in the perception of such sounds, indicated by a reduced ability to detect signals during auditory backward masking, strongly relate to language processing difficulties in children. Backward masking during normal development has a longer maturational trajectory than many other auditory percepts, implicating the involvement of central auditory neural mechanisms with protracted developmental time courses. Despite the importance of this percept, its neural correlates are not well described at any developmental stage. We therefore measured auditory cortical responses to masked signals in juvenile and adult Mongolian gerbils and quantified the detection ability of individual neurons and neural populations in a manner comparable with psychoacoustic measurements. Perceptually, auditory backward masking manifests as higher thresholds for detection of a short signal followed by a masker than for the same signal in silence. Cortical masking was driven by a combination of suppressed responses to the signal and a reduced dynamic range available for signal detection in the presence of the masker. Both coding elements contributed to greater masked threshold shifts in juveniles compared with adults, but signal-evoked firing suppression was more pronounced in juveniles. Neural threshold shifts were a better match to human psychophysical threshold shifts when quantified with a longer temporal window that included the response to the delayed masker, suggesting that temporally selective listening may contribute to age-related differences in backward masking. NEW & NOTEWORTHY In children, auditory detection of backward masked signals is immature well into adolescence, and detection deficits correlate with problems in speech processing. Our auditory cortical recordings reveal immature backward masking in adolescent animals that mirrors the prolonged development seen in children. This is driven by both signal-evoked suppression and dynamic range reduction. An extended window of analysis suggests that differences in temporally focused listening may contribute to late maturing thresholds for backward masked signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle M Mattingly
- Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio
| | - Brittany M Donell
- Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio
| | - Merri J Rosen
- Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio
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8
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Huyck JJ, Rosen MJ. Development of perception and perceptual learning for multi-timescale filtered speech. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2018; 144:667. [PMID: 30180675 DOI: 10.1121/1.5049369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2017] [Accepted: 07/18/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
The perception of temporally changing auditory signals has a gradual developmental trajectory. Speech is a time-varying signal, and slow changes in speech (filtered at 0-4 Hz) are preferentially processed by the right hemisphere, while the left extracts faster changes (filtered at 22-40 Hz). This work examined the ability of 8- to 19-year-olds to both perceive and learn to perceive filtered speech presented diotically for each filter type (low vs high) and dichotically for preferred or non-preferred laterality. Across conditions, performance improved with increasing age, indicating that the ability to perceive filtered speech continues to develop into adolescence. Across age, performance was best when both bands were presented dichotically, but with no benefit for presentation to the preferred hemisphere. Listeners thus integrated slow and fast transitions between the two ears, benefitting from more signal information, but not in a hemisphere-specific manner. After accounting for potential ceiling effects, learning was greatest when both bands were presented dichotically. These results do not support the idea that cochlear implants could be improved by providing differentially filtered information to each ear. Listeners who started with poorer performance learned more, a factor which could contribute to the positive cochlear implant outcomes typically seen in younger children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Jones Huyck
- Speech Pathology and Audiology Program, Kent State University, 1325 Theatre Drive, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA
| | - Merri J Rosen
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, 4209 State Route 44, Rootstown, Ohio 44272, USA
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9
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White-Schwoch T, Nicol T, Warrier CM, Abrams DA, Kraus N. Individual Differences in Human Auditory Processing: Insights From Single-Trial Auditory Midbrain Activity in an Animal Model. Cereb Cortex 2018; 27:5095-5115. [PMID: 28334187 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhw293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2016] [Accepted: 08/29/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Auditory-evoked potentials are classically defined as the summations of synchronous firing along the auditory neuraxis. Converging evidence supports a model whereby timing jitter in neural coding compromises listening and causes variable scalp-recorded potentials. Yet the intrinsic noise of human scalp recordings precludes a full understanding of the biological origins of individual differences in listening skills. To delineate the mechanisms contributing to these phenomena, in vivo extracellular activity was recorded from inferior colliculus in guinea pigs to speech in quiet and noise. Here we show that trial-by-trial timing jitter is a mechanism contributing to auditory response variability. Identical variability patterns were observed in scalp recordings in human children, implicating jittered timing as a factor underlying reduced coding of dynamic speech features and speech in noise. Moreover, intertrial variability in human listeners is tied to language development. Together, these findings suggest that variable timing in inferior colliculus blurs the neural coding of speech in noise, and propose a consequence of this timing jitter for human behavior. These results hint both at the mechanisms underlying speech processing in general, and at what may go awry in individuals with listening difficulties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Travis White-Schwoch
- Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory (www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu) & Department of Communication Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA
| | - Trent Nicol
- Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory (www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu) & Department of Communication Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA
| | - Catherine M Warrier
- Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory (www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu) & Department of Communication Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA
| | - Daniel A Abrams
- Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory (www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu) & Department of Communication Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.,Stanford Cognitive & Systems Neuroscience Laboratory, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA
| | - Nina Kraus
- Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory (www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu) & Department of Communication Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.,Department of Neurobiology & Physiology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.,Department of Otolaryngology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA
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10
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Fostick L, Revah H. Dyslexia as a multi-deficit disorder: Working memory and auditory temporal processing. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2018; 183:19-28. [PMID: 29304447 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2017.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2017] [Revised: 12/07/2017] [Accepted: 12/24/2017] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Dyslexia is difficulty in acquiring reading skills despite adequate intelligence and sufficient reading opportunities. Its origin is still under debate. Studies usually focus on a singular cause for dyslexia; however, some researchers argue that dyslexia reflects multiple deficits. Two of the abilities under investigation in dyslexia are working memory (WM) and auditory temporal processing (ATP). In order to better evaluate the relative roles of WM and ATP in dyslexia, in the present study, we tested the contribution of WM and ATP to different types of reading performance and phonological awareness in dyslexia, using a multidimensional approach. Seventy-eight adults with dyslexia and 23 normal-reading adults performed WM and ATP tasks, as well as reading and phonological awareness tests. Readers with dyslexia showed poorer performance on all tests. Both WM and ATP were significant predictors of reading performance and phonological awareness among participants with dyslexia. Dividing participants with dyslexia according to their performance level on WM and ATP tasks revealed group differences in reading and phonological awareness tests. Both WM and ATP contribute to dyslexia, and varying levels of difficulties in both of these abilities are observed among this population. This is strong evidence in favor of the multi-deficit approach in dyslexia, and suggests that researchers should consider this approach in future studies of dyslexia.
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11
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Piekarski DJ, Boivin JR, Wilbrecht L. Ovarian Hormones Organize the Maturation of Inhibitory Neurotransmission in the Frontal Cortex at Puberty Onset in Female Mice. Curr Biol 2017; 27:1735-1745.e3. [PMID: 28578932 PMCID: PMC5699709 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.05.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2017] [Revised: 04/03/2017] [Accepted: 05/08/2017] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
The frontal cortex matures late in development, showing dramatic changes after puberty onset, yet few experiments have directly tested the role of pubertal hormones in cortical maturation. One mechanism thought to play a primary role in regulating the maturation of the neocortex is an increase in inhibitory neurotransmission, which alters the balance of excitation and inhibition. We hypothesized that pubertal hormones could regulate maturation of the frontal cortex by this mechanism. Here, we report that manipulations of gonadal hormones do significantly alter the maturation of inhibitory neurotransmission in the cingulate region of the mouse medial frontal cortex, an associative region that matures during the pubertal transition and is implicated in decision making, learning, and psychopathology. We find that inhibitory neurotransmission, but not excitatory neurotransmission, increases onto cingulate pyramidal neurons during peri-pubertal development and that this increase can be blocked by pre-pubertal, but not post-pubertal, gonadectomy. We next used pre-pubertal hormone treatment to model early puberty onset, a phenomenon increasingly observed in girls living in developed nations. We find that pre-pubertal hormone treatment drives an early increase in inhibitory neurotransmission in the frontal cortex, but not the somatosensory cortex, suggesting that earlier puberty can advance cortical maturation in a regionally specific manner. Pre-pubertal hormone treatment also accelerates maturation of tonic inhibition and performance in a frontal-cortex-dependent reversal-learning task. These data provide rare evidence of enduring, organizational effects of ovarian hormones at puberty and provide a potential mechanism by which gonadal hormones could regulate the maturation of the associative neocortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J Piekarski
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, 16 Barker Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Josiah R Boivin
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, 1550 4(th) Street, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Linda Wilbrecht
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, 16 Barker Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, 16 Barker Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
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12
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Piekarski DJ, Johnson CM, Boivin JR, Thomas AW, Lin WC, Delevich K, M Galarce E, Wilbrecht L. Does puberty mark a transition in sensitive periods for plasticity in the associative neocortex? Brain Res 2017; 1654:123-144. [PMID: 27590721 PMCID: PMC5283387 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2016.08.042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 109] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2016] [Revised: 08/17/2016] [Accepted: 08/29/2016] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Postnatal brain development is studded with sensitive periods during which experience dependent plasticity is enhanced. This enables rapid learning from environmental inputs and reorganization of cortical circuits that matches behavior with environmental contingencies. Significant headway has been achieved in characterizing and understanding sensitive period biology in primary sensory cortices, but relatively little is known about sensitive period biology in associative neocortex. One possible mediator is the onset of puberty, which marks the transition to adolescence, when animals shift their behavior toward gaining independence and exploring their social world. Puberty onset correlates with reduced behavioral plasticity in some domains and enhanced plasticity in others, and therefore may drive the transition from juvenile to adolescent brain function. Pubertal onset is also occurring earlier in developed nations, particularly in unserved populations, and earlier puberty is associated with vulnerability for substance use, depression and anxiety. In the present article we review the evidence that supports a causal role for puberty in developmental changes in the function and neurobiology of the associative neocortex. We also propose a model for how pubertal hormones may regulate sensitive period plasticity in associative neocortex. We conclude that the evidence suggests puberty onset may play a causal role in some aspects of associative neocortical development, but that further research that manipulates puberty and measures gonadal hormones is required. We argue that further work of this kind is urgently needed to determine how earlier puberty may negatively impact human health and learning potential. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Adolescent plasticity.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J Piekarski
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA
| | - Carolyn M Johnson
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA
| | - Josiah R Boivin
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco CA 94158, USA
| | - A Wren Thomas
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA
| | - Wan Chen Lin
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA
| | - Kristen Delevich
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA
| | - Ezequiel M Galarce
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA
| | - Linda Wilbrecht
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA.
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13
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Skoe E, Brody L, Theodore RM. Reading ability reflects individual differences in auditory brainstem function, even into adulthood. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2017; 164:25-31. [PMID: 27694016 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2016.09.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2016] [Revised: 08/22/2016] [Accepted: 09/03/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Research with developmental populations suggests that the maturational state of auditory brainstem encoding is linked to reading ability. Specifically, children with poor reading skills resemble biologically younger children with respect to their auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) to speech stimulation. Because ABR development continues into adolescence, it is possible that the link between ABRs and reading ability changes or resolves as the brainstem matures. To examine these possibilities, ABRs were recorded at varying presentation rates in adults with diverse, yet unimpaired reading levels. We found that reading ability in adulthood related to ABR Wave V latency, with more juvenile response morphology linked to less proficient reading ability, as has been observed for children. These data add to the evidence indicating that auditory brainstem responses serve as an index of the sound-based skills that underlie reading, even into adulthood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erika Skoe
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, University of Connecticut, 850 Bolton Road, Unit 1085, Storrs, CT 06269, United States; Connecticut Institute for the Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Connecticut, 337 Mansfield Road, Unit 1272, Storrs, CT 06269, United States.
| | - Lisa Brody
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, University of Connecticut, 850 Bolton Road, Unit 1085, Storrs, CT 06269, United States.
| | - Rachel M Theodore
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, University of Connecticut, 850 Bolton Road, Unit 1085, Storrs, CT 06269, United States; Connecticut Institute for the Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Connecticut, 337 Mansfield Road, Unit 1272, Storrs, CT 06269, United States.
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Canovas J, Baldry M, Bojer MS, Andersen PS, Grzeskowiak PK, Stegger M, Damborg P, Olsen CA, Ingmer H. Cross-Talk between Staphylococcus aureus and Other Staphylococcal Species via the agr Quorum Sensing System. Front Microbiol 2016; 7:1733. [PMID: 27877157 PMCID: PMC5099252 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.01733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2016] [Accepted: 10/17/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Staphylococci are associated with both humans and animals. While most are non-pathogenic colonizers, Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic pathogen capable of causing severe infections. S. aureus virulence is controlled by the agr quorum sensing system responding to secreted auto-inducing peptides (AIPs) sensed by AgrC, a two component histidine kinase. agr loci are found also in other staphylococcal species and for Staphylococcus epidermidis, the encoded AIP represses expression of agr regulated virulence genes in S. aureus. In this study we aimed to better understand the interaction between staphylococci and S. aureus, and show that this interaction may eventually lead to the identification of new anti-virulence candidates to target S. aureus infections. Here we show that culture supernatants of 37 out of 52 staphylococcal isolates representing 17 different species inhibit S. aureus agr. The dog pathogen, Staphylococcus schleiferi, expressed the most potent inhibitory activity and was active against all four agr classes found in S. aureus. By employing a S. aureus strain encoding a constitutively active AIP receptor we show that the activity is mediated via agr. Subsequent cloning and heterologous expression of the S. schleiferi AIP in S. aureus demonstrated that this molecule was likely responsible for the inhibitory activity, and further proof was provided when pure synthetic S. schleiferi AIP was able to completely abolish agr induction of an S. aureus reporter strain. To assess impact on S. aureus virulence, we co-inoculated S. aureus and S. schleiferi in vivo in the Galleria mellonella wax moth larva, and found that expression of key S. aureus virulence factors was abrogated. Our data show that the S. aureus agr locus is highly responsive to other staphylococcal species suggesting that agr is an inter-species communication system. Based on these results we speculate that interactions between S. aureus and other colonizing staphylococci will significantly influence the ability of S. aureus to cause infection, and we propose that other staphylococci are potential sources of compounds that can be applied as anti-virulence therapy for combating S. aureus infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaime Canovas
- Department of Veterinary Disease Biology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen Frederiksberg, Denmark
| | - Mara Baldry
- Department of Veterinary Disease Biology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen Frederiksberg, Denmark
| | - Martin S Bojer
- Department of Veterinary Disease Biology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen Frederiksberg, Denmark
| | - Paal S Andersen
- Department of Veterinary Disease Biology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of CopenhagenFrederiksberg, Denmark; Department of Microbiology and Infection Control, Statens Serum InstitutCopenhagen, Denmark
| | - Piotr K Grzeskowiak
- Center for Biopharmaceuticals and Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Marc Stegger
- Department of Microbiology and Infection Control, Statens Serum Institut Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Peter Damborg
- Department of Veterinary Disease Biology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen Frederiksberg, Denmark
| | - Christian A Olsen
- Center for Biopharmaceuticals and Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Hanne Ingmer
- Department of Veterinary Disease Biology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen Frederiksberg, Denmark
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Shen H, Sabaliauskas N, Yang L, Aoki C, Smith SS. Role of α4-containing GABA A receptors in limiting synaptic plasticity and spatial learning of female mice during the pubertal period. Brain Res 2016; 1654:116-122. [PMID: 26826007 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2016.01.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2015] [Accepted: 01/10/2016] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Expression of α4βδ GABAA receptors (GABARs) increases at the onset of puberty on dendritic spines of CA1 hippocampal pyramidal cells. These receptors reduce activation of NMDA receptors (NMDARs), impair induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) and reduce hippocampal-dependent spatial learning. These effects are not seen in the δ-/- mouse, implicating α4βδ GABARs. Here we show that knock-out of α4 also restores synaptic plasticity and spatial learning in female mice at the onset of puberty (verified by vaginal opening). To this end, field excitatory post-synaptic potentials (fEPSPs) were recorded from the stratum radiatum of CA1 hippocampus in the slice from +/+ and α4-/- pubertal mice (PND 35-44). Induction of LTP, in response to stimulation of the Schaffer collaterals with theta burst stimulation (TBS), was unsuccessful in the +/+ hippocampus, but reinstated by α4 knock-out (~65% potentiation) but not by blockade of α5-GABARs with L-655,708 (50nM). In order to compare spatial learning in the two groups of mice, animals were trained in an active place avoidance task where the latency to first enter a shock zone is a measure of learning. α4-/- mice had significantly longer latencies by the third learning trial, suggesting better spatial learning, compared to +/+ animals, who did not reach the criterion for learning (120s latency). These findings suggest that knock-out of the GABAR α4 subunit restores synaptic plasticity and spatial learning at puberty and is consistent with the concept that the dendritic α4βδ GABARs which emerge at puberty selectively impair CNS plasticity. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Adolescent plasticity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui Shen
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Tianjin Medical University, No. 22 Qixiangtai Road, Heping District, Tianjin 300070 China; Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, 450 Clarkson Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA
| | - Nicole Sabaliauskas
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, 450 Clarkson Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA; Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Lie Yang
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, 450 Clarkson Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA
| | - Chiye Aoki
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Sheryl S Smith
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, 450 Clarkson Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA.
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Xia Z, Hoeft F, Zhang L, Shu H. Neuroanatomical anomalies of dyslexia: Disambiguating the effects of disorder, performance, and maturation. Neuropsychologia 2015; 81:68-78. [PMID: 26679527 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2015] [Revised: 09/17/2015] [Accepted: 12/06/2015] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
An increasing body of studies has revealed neuroanatomical impairments in developmental dyslexia. However, whether these structural anomalies are driven by dyslexia (disorder-specific effects), absolute reading performance (performance-dependent effects), and/or further influenced by age (maturation-sensitive effects) remains elusive. To help disentangle these sources, the current study used a novel disorder (dyslexia vs. control) by maturation (younger vs. older) factorial design in 48 Chinese children who were carefully matched. This design not only allows for direct comparison between dyslexics versus controls matched for chronological age and reading ability, but also enables examination of the influence of maturation and its interaction with dyslexia. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) showed that dyslexic children had reduced regional gray matter volume in the left temporo-parietal cortex (spanning over Heschl's gyrus, planum temporale and supramarginal gyrus), middle frontal gyrus, superior occipital gyrus, and reduced regional white matter in bilateral parieto-occipital regions (left cuneus and right precuneus) compared with both age-matched and reading-level matched controls. Therefore, maturational stage-invariant neurobiological signatures of dyslexia were found in brain regions that have been associated with impairments in the auditory/phonological and attentional systems. On the other hand, maturational stage-dependent effects on dyslexia were observed in three regions (left ventral occipito-temporal cortex, left dorsal pars opercularis and genu of the corpus callosum), all of which were previously reported to be involved in fluent reading and its development. These striking dissociations collectively suggest potential atypical developmental trajectories of dyslexia, where underlying mechanisms are currently unknown but may be driven by interactions between genetic and/or environmental factors. In summary, this is the first study to disambiguate maturational stage on neuroanatomical anomalies of dyslexia in addition to the effects of disorder, reading performance and maturational stage on neuroanatomical anomalies of dyslexia, despite the limitation of a relatively small sample-size. These results will hopefully encourage future research to place greater emphasis on taking a developmental perspective to dyslexia, which may, in turn, further our understanding of the etiological basis of this neurodevelopmental disorder, and ultimately optimize early identification and remediation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhichao Xia
- State Key Lab of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, UCSF, 401 Parnassus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Fumiko Hoeft
- Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, UCSF, 401 Parnassus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA; Haskins Laboratories, 300 George St #900, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi Shinjuku Tokyo, 160-8582, Japan
| | - Linjun Zhang
- College of Chinese Studies, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Hua Shu
- State Key Lab of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
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17
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Gabr TA, Darwish ME. Speech auditory brainstem response audiometry in children with specific language impairment. HEARING BALANCE AND COMMUNICATION 2015. [DOI: 10.3109/21695717.2016.1092715] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
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18
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Rocha-Muniz CN, Befi-Lopes DM, Schochat E. Mismatch negativity in children with specific language impairment and auditory processing disorder. Braz J Otorhinolaryngol 2015; 81:408-15. [PMID: 26142650 PMCID: PMC9442763 DOI: 10.1016/j.bjorl.2014.08.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2014] [Accepted: 08/12/2014] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction Mismatch negativity, an electrophysiological measure, evaluates the brain's capacity to discriminate sounds, regardless of attentional and behavioral capacity. Thus, this auditory event-related potential is promising in the study of the neurophysiological basis underlying auditory processing. Objective To investigate complex acoustic signals (speech) encoded in the auditory nervous system of children with specific language impairment and compare with children with auditory processing disorders and typical development through the mismatch negativity paradigm. Methods It was a prospective study. 75 children (6–12 years) participated in this study: 25 children with specific language impairment, 25 with auditory processing disorders, and 25 with typical development. Mismatch negativity was obtained by subtracting from the waves obtained by the stimuli /ga/ (frequent) and /da/ (rare). Measures of mismatch negativity latency and two amplitude measures were analyzed. Results It was possible to verify an absence of mismatch negativity in 16% children with specific language impairment and 24% children with auditory processing disorders. In the comparative analysis, auditory processing disorders and specific language impairment showed higher latency values and lower amplitude values compared to typical development. Conclusion These data demonstrate changes in the automatic discrimination of crucial acoustic components of speech sounds in children with specific language impairment and auditory processing disorders. It could indicate problems in physiological processes responsible for ensuring the discrimination of acoustic contrasts in pre-attentional and pre-conscious levels, contributing to poor perception.
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White-Schwoch T, Davies EC, Thompson EC, Woodruff Carr K, Nicol T, Bradlow AR, Kraus N. Auditory-neurophysiological responses to speech during early childhood: Effects of background noise. Hear Res 2015; 328:34-47. [PMID: 26113025 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2015.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2015] [Revised: 05/30/2015] [Accepted: 06/12/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Early childhood is a critical period of auditory learning, during which children are constantly mapping sounds to meaning. But this auditory learning rarely occurs in ideal listening conditions-children are forced to listen against a relentless din. This background noise degrades the neural coding of these critical sounds, in turn interfering with auditory learning. Despite the importance of robust and reliable auditory processing during early childhood, little is known about the neurophysiology underlying speech processing in children so young. To better understand the physiological constraints these adverse listening scenarios impose on speech sound coding during early childhood, auditory-neurophysiological responses were elicited to a consonant-vowel syllable in quiet and background noise in a cohort of typically-developing preschoolers (ages 3-5 yr). Overall, responses were degraded in noise: they were smaller, less stable across trials, slower, and there was poorer coding of spectral content and the temporal envelope. These effects were exacerbated in response to the consonant transition relative to the vowel, suggesting that the neural coding of spectrotemporally-dynamic speech features is more tenuous in noise than the coding of static features-even in children this young. Neural coding of speech temporal fine structure, however, was more resilient to the addition of background noise than coding of temporal envelope information. Taken together, these results demonstrate that noise places a neurophysiological constraint on speech processing during early childhood by causing a breakdown in neural processing of speech acoustics. These results may explain why some listeners have inordinate difficulties understanding speech in noise. Speech-elicited auditory-neurophysiological responses offer objective insight into listening skills during early childhood by reflecting the integrity of neural coding in quiet and noise; this paper documents typical response properties in this age group. These normative metrics may be useful clinically to evaluate auditory processing difficulties during early childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Travis White-Schwoch
- Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory & Department of Communication Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA(1)
| | - Evan C Davies
- Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory & Department of Communication Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA(1)
| | - Elaine C Thompson
- Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory & Department of Communication Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA(1)
| | - Kali Woodruff Carr
- Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory & Department of Communication Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA(1)
| | - Trent Nicol
- Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory & Department of Communication Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA(1)
| | - Ann R Bradlow
- Department of Linguistics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
| | - Nina Kraus
- Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory & Department of Communication Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA(1); Department of Neurobiology & Physiology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL and Department of Otolaryngology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
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Steinbrink C, Klatte M, Lachmann T. Phonological, temporal and spectral processing in vowel length discrimination is impaired in German primary school children with developmental dyslexia. RESEARCH IN DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 2014; 35:3034-3045. [PMID: 25128788 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2014.07.049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2014] [Accepted: 07/23/2014] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
It is still unclear whether phonological processing deficits are the underlying cause of developmental dyslexia, or rather a consequence of basic auditory processing impairments. To avoid methodological confounds, in the current study the same task and stimuli of comparable complexity were used to investigate both phonological and basic auditory (temporal and spectral) processing in dyslexia. German dyslexic children (Grades 3 and 4) were compared to age- and grade-matched controls in a vowel length discrimination task with three experimental conditions: In a phonological condition, natural vowels were used, differing both with respect to temporal and spectral information (in German, vowel length is phonemic, and vowel length differences are characterized by both temporal and spectral information). In a temporal condition, spectral information differentiating between the two vowels of a pair was eliminated, whereas in a spectral condition, temporal differences were removed. As performance measure, the sensitivity index d' was computed. At the group level, dyslexic children's performance was inferior to that of controls for phonological as well as temporal and spectral vowel length discrimination. At an individual level, nearly half of the dyslexic sample was characterized by deficits in all three conditions, but there were also some children showing no deficits at all. These results reveal on the one hand that phonological processing deficits in dyslexia may stem from impairments in processing temporal and spectral information in the speech signal. On the other hand they indicate, however, that not all dyslexic children might be characterized by phonological or auditory processing deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Steinbrink
- Department of Psychology II (Cognitive and Developmental Psychology), University of Kaiserslautern, Erwin-Schroedinger-Strasse, Building 57, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany.
| | - Maria Klatte
- Department of Psychology II (Cognitive and Developmental Psychology), University of Kaiserslautern, Erwin-Schroedinger-Strasse, Building 57, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
| | - Thomas Lachmann
- Department of Psychology II (Cognitive and Developmental Psychology), University of Kaiserslautern, Erwin-Schroedinger-Strasse, Building 57, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
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Enhancement of brain event-related potentials to speech sounds is associated with compensated reading skills in dyslexic children with familial risk for dyslexia. Int J Psychophysiol 2014; 94:298-310. [PMID: 25312203 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2014.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2014] [Revised: 09/26/2014] [Accepted: 10/02/2014] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Specific reading disability, dyslexia, is a prevalent and heritable disorder impairing reading acquisition characterized by a phonological deficit. However, the underlying mechanism of how the impaired phonological processing mediates resulting dyslexia or reading disabilities remains still unclear. Using ERPs we studied speech sound processing of 30 dyslexic children with familial risk for dyslexia, 51 typically reading children with familial risk for dyslexia, and 58 typically reading control children. We found enhanced brain responses to shortening of a phonemic length in pseudo-words (/at:a/ vs. /ata/) in dyslexic children with familial risk as compared to other groups. The enhanced brain responses were associated with better performance in behavioral phonemic length discrimination task, as well as with better reading and writing accuracy. Source analyses revealed that the brain responses of sub-group of dyslexic children with largest responses originated from a more posterior area of the right temporal cortex as compared to the responses of the other participants. This is the first electrophysiological evidence for a possible compensatory speech perception mechanism in dyslexia. The best readers within the dyslexic group have probably developed alternative strategies which employ compensatory mechanisms substituting their possible earlier deficit in phonological processing and might therefore be able to perform better in phonemic length discrimination and reading and writing accuracy tasks. However, we speculate that for reading fluency compensatory mechanisms are not that easily built and dyslexic children remain slow readers during their adult life.
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Lorusso ML, Cantiani C, Molteni M. Age, dyslexia subtype and comorbidity modulate rapid auditory processing in developmental dyslexia. Front Hum Neurosci 2014; 8:313. [PMID: 24904356 PMCID: PMC4032942 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2013] [Accepted: 04/28/2014] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The nature of Rapid Auditory Processing (RAP) deficits in dyslexia remains debated, together with the specificity of the problem to certain types of stimuli and/or restricted subgroups of individuals. Following the hypothesis that the heterogeneity of the dyslexic population may have led to contrasting results, the aim of the study was to define the effect of age, dyslexia subtype and comorbidity on the discrimination and reproduction of non-verbal tone sequences. Participants were 46 children aged 8–14 (26 with dyslexia, subdivided according to age, presence of a previous language delay, and type of dyslexia). Experimental tasks were a Temporal Order Judgment (TOJ) (manipulating tone length, ISI and sequence length), and a Pattern Discrimination Task. Dyslexic children showed general RAP deficits. Tone length and ISI influenced dyslexic and control children's performance in a similar way, but dyslexic children were more affected by an increase from 2 to 5 sounds. As to age, older dyslexic children's difficulty in reproducing sequences of 4 and 5 tones was similar to that of normally reading younger (but not older) children. In the analysis of subgroup profiles, the crucial variable appears to be the advantage, or lack thereof, in processing long vs. short sounds. Dyslexic children with a previous language delay obtained the lowest scores in RAP measures, but they performed worse with shorter stimuli, similar to control children, while dyslexic-only children showed no advantage for longer stimuli. As to dyslexia subtype, only surface dyslexics improved their performance with longer stimuli, while phonological dyslexics did not. Differential scores for short vs. long tones and for long vs. short ISIs predict non-word and word reading, respectively, and the former correlate with phonemic awareness. In conclusion, the relationship between non-verbal RAP, phonemic skills and reading abilities appears to be characterized by complex interactions with subgroup characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Luisa Lorusso
- Unit of Neuropsychology of Developmental Disorders, Department of Child Psychopathology, Scientific Institute IRCCS "E. Medea" Bosisio Parini, Italy
| | - Chiara Cantiani
- Unit of Neuropsychology of Developmental Disorders, Department of Child Psychopathology, Scientific Institute IRCCS "E. Medea" Bosisio Parini, Italy
| | - Massimo Molteni
- Unit of Neuropsychology of Developmental Disorders, Department of Child Psychopathology, Scientific Institute IRCCS "E. Medea" Bosisio Parini, Italy
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Kang R, Sarro EC, Sanes DH. Auditory training during development mitigates a hearing loss-induced perceptual deficit. Front Syst Neurosci 2014; 8:49. [PMID: 24772071 PMCID: PMC3983518 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2014.00049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2014] [Accepted: 03/17/2014] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Sensory experience during early development can shape the central nervous system and this is thought to influence adult perceptual skills. In the auditory system, early induction of conductive hearing loss (CHL) leads to deficits in central auditory coding properties in adult animals, and this is accompanied by diminished perceptual thresholds. In contrast, a brief regimen of auditory training during development can enhance the perceptual skills of animals when tested in adulthood. Here, we asked whether a brief period of training during development could compensate for the perceptual deficits displayed by adult animals reared with CHL. Juvenile gerbils with CHL, and age-matched controls, were trained on a frequency modulation (FM) detection task for 4 or 10 days. The performance of each group was subsequently assessed in adulthood, and compared to adults with normal hearing (NH) or adults raised with CHL that did not receive juvenile training. We show that as juveniles, both CHL and NH animals display similar FM detection thresholds that are not immediately impacted by the perceptual training. However, as adults, detection thresholds and psychometric function slopes of these animals were significantly improved. Importantly, CHL adults with juvenile training displayed thresholds that approached NH adults. Additionally, we found that hearing impaired animals trained for 10 days displayed adult thresholds closer to untrained adults than those trained for 4 days. Thus, a relatively brief period of auditory training may compensate for the deleterious impact of hearing deprivation on auditory perception on the trained task.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ramanjot Kang
- Center for Neural Science, New York University New York, NY, USA
| | - Emma C Sarro
- Center for Neural Science, New York University New York, NY, USA
| | - Dan H Sanes
- Center for Neural Science, New York University New York, NY, USA ; Department of Biology, New York University New York, NY, USA
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Pammer K. Brain mechanisms and reading remediation: more questions than answers. SCIENTIFICA 2014; 2014:802741. [PMID: 24527259 PMCID: PMC3913493 DOI: 10.1155/2014/802741] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2013] [Accepted: 11/13/2013] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
Dyslexia is generally diagnosed in childhood and is characterised by poor literacy skills with associated phonological and perceptual problems. Compensated dyslexic readers are adult readers who have a documented history of childhood dyslexia but as adults can read and comprehend written text well. Uncompensated dyslexic readers are adults who similarly have a documented history of reading impairment but remain functionally reading-impaired all their lives. There is little understanding of the neurophysiological basis for how or why some children become compensated, while others do not, and there is little knowledge about neurophysiological changes that occur with remedial programs for reading disability. This paper will review research looking at reading remediation, particularly in the context of the underlying neurophysiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristen Pammer
- The Department of Psychology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
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25
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Smith SS. The influence of stress at puberty on mood and learning: role of the α4βδ GABAA receptor. Neuroscience 2013; 249:192-213. [PMID: 23079628 PMCID: PMC3586385 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2012.09.065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2012] [Revised: 09/21/2012] [Accepted: 09/25/2012] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
It is well-known that the onset of puberty is associated with changes in mood as well as cognition. Stress can have an impact on these outcomes, which in many cases, can be more influential in females, suggesting that gender differences exist. The adolescent period is a vulnerable time for the onset of certain psychopathologies, including anxiety disorders, depression and eating disorders, which are also more prevalent in females. One factor which may contribute to stress-triggered anxiety at puberty is the GABAA receptor (GABAR), which is known to play a pivotal role in anxiety. Expression of α4βδ GABARs increases on the dendrites of CA1 pyramidal cells at the onset of puberty in the hippocampus, part of the limbic circuitry which governs emotion. This receptor is a sensitive target for the stress steroid 3α-OH-5[α]β-pregnan-20-one or [allo]pregnanolone, which paradoxically reduces inhibition and increases anxiety during the pubertal period (post-natal day ∼35-44) of female mice in contrast to its usual effect to enhance inhibition and reduce anxiety. Spatial learning and synaptic plasticity are also adversely impacted at puberty, likely a result of increased expression of α4βδ GABARs on the dendritic spines of CA1 hippocampal pyramidal cells, which are essential for consolidation of memory. This review will focus on the role of these receptors in mediating behavioral changes at puberty. Stress-mediated changes in mood and cognition in early adolescence may have relevance for the expression of psychopathologies in adulthood.
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Affiliation(s)
- S S Smith
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, 450 Clarkson Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA.
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Hämäläinen JA, Salminen HK, Leppänen PHT. Basic auditory processing deficits in dyslexia: systematic review of the behavioral and event-related potential/ field evidence. JOURNAL OF LEARNING DISABILITIES 2013; 46:413-27. [PMID: 22323280 DOI: 10.1177/0022219411436213] [Citation(s) in RCA: 161] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
A review of research that uses behavioral, electroencephalographic, and/or magnetoencephalographic methods to investigate auditory processing deficits in individuals with dyslexia is presented. Findings show that measures of frequency, rise time, and duration discrimination as well as amplitude modulation and frequency modulation detection were most often impaired in individuals with dyslexia. Less consistent findings were found for intensity and gap perception. Additional factors that mediate auditory processing deficits in individuals with dyslexia and their implications are discussed.
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Huyck JJ, Wright BA. Learning, worsening, and generalization in response to auditory perceptual training during adolescence. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2013; 134:1172-82. [PMID: 23927116 PMCID: PMC3745496 DOI: 10.1121/1.4812258] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
While it is commonly held that the capacity to learn is greatest in the young, there have been few direct comparisons of the response to training across age groups. Here, adolescents (11-17 years, n = 20) and adults (≥18 years, n = 11) practiced detecting a backward-masked tone for ∼1 h/day for 10 days. Nearly every adult, but only half of the adolescents improved across sessions, and the adolescents who learned did so more slowly than adults. Nevertheless, the adolescent and adult learners showed the same generalization pattern, improving on untrained backward- but not forward- or simultaneous-masking conditions. Another subset of adolescents (n = 6) actually got worse on the trained condition. This worsening, unlike learning, generalized to an untrained forward-masking, but not backward-masking condition. Within sessions, both age groups got worse, but the worsening was greater for adolescents. These maturational changes in the response to training largely followed those previously reported for temporal-interval discrimination. Overall, the results suggest that late-maturing processes affect the response to perceptual training and that some of these processes may be shared between tasks. Further, the different developmental rates for learning and generalization, and different generalization patterns for learning and worsening imply that learning, generalization, and worsening may have different origins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Jones Huyck
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, 2240 Campus Drive, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.
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Lateralized auditory brain function in children with normal reading ability and in children withdyslexia. Neuropsychologia 2013; 51:633-41. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.12.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2012] [Revised: 12/08/2012] [Accepted: 12/17/2012] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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Abstract
Emerging evidence of the high variability in the cognitive skills and deficits associated with reading achievement and dysfunction promotes both a more dimensional view of the risk factors involved, and the importance of discriminating between trajectories of impairment. Here we examined reading and component orthographic and phonological skills alongside measures of cognitive ability and auditory and visual sensory processing in a large group of primary school children between the ages of 7 and 12 years. We identified clusters of children with pseudoword or exception word reading scores at the 10th percentile or below relative to their age group, and a group with poor skills on both tasks. Compared to age-matched and reading-level controls, groups of children with more impaired exception word reading were best described by a trajectory of developmental delay, whereas readers with more impaired pseudoword reading or combined deficits corresponded more with a pattern of atypical development. Sensory processing deficits clustered within both of the groups with putative atypical development: auditory discrimination deficits with poor phonological awareness skills; impairments of visual motion processing in readers with broader and more severe patterns of reading and cognitive impairments. Sensory deficits have been variably associated with developmental impairments of literacy and language; these results suggest that such deficits are also likely to cluster in children with particular patterns of reading difficulty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joel B Talcott
- Aston Brain Centre, School of Life & Health Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, United Kingdom.
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Bishop DVM, Hardiman MJ, Barry JG. Auditory deficit as a consequence rather than endophenotype of specific language impairment: electrophysiological evidence. PLoS One 2012; 7:e35851. [PMID: 22662112 PMCID: PMC3359801 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0035851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2012] [Accepted: 03/23/2012] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Are developmental language disorders caused by poor auditory discrimination? This is a popular theory, but behavioural evidence has been inconclusive. Here we studied children with specific language impairment, measuring the brain’s electrophysiological response to sounds in a passive paradigm. We focused on the T-complex, an event-related peak that has different origins and developmental course from the well-known vertex response. Methods We analysed auditory event-related potentials to tones and syllables from 16 children and 16 adolescents with specific language impairment who were compared with 32 typically-developing controls, matched for gender, IQ and age. Results We replicated prior findings of significant reduction in Ta amplitude for both children and adolescents with specific language impairment, which was particularly marked for syllables. The topography of the T-complex to syllables indicated a less focal response in those with language impairments. To distinguish causal models, we considered correlations between size of the Ta response and measures of language and literacy in parents as well as children. The best-fitting model was one in which auditory deficit was a consequence rather than a cause of difficulties in phonological processing. Conclusions The T-complex to syllables has abnormal size and topography in children with specific language impairment, but this is more likely to be a consequence rather than a cause of difficulties in phonological processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- D V M Bishop
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
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Sanes DH, Woolley SMN. A behavioral framework to guide research on central auditory development and plasticity. Neuron 2011; 72:912-29. [PMID: 22196328 PMCID: PMC3244881 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2011.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/06/2011] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
The auditory CNS is influenced profoundly by sounds heard during development. Auditory deprivation and augmented sound exposure can each perturb the maturation of neural computations as well as their underlying synaptic properties. However, we have learned little about the emergence of perceptual skills in these same model systems, and especially how perception is influenced by early acoustic experience. Here, we argue that developmental studies must take greater advantage of behavioral benchmarks. We discuss quantitative measures of perceptual development and suggest how they can play a much larger role in guiding experimental design. Most importantly, including behavioral measures will allow us to establish empirical connections among environment, neural development, and perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan H Sanes
- Center for Neural Science, 4 Washington Place, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.
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Sarro EC, Rosen MJ, Sanes DH. Taking advantage of behavioral changes during development and training to assess sensory coding mechanisms. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2011; 1225:142-54. [PMID: 21535001 DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06023.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The relationship between behavioral and neural performance has been explored in adult animals, but rarely during the developmental period when perceptual abilities emerge. We used these naturally occurring changes in auditory perception to evaluate underlying encoding mechanisms. Performance of juvenile and adult gerbils on an amplitude modulation (AM) detection task was compared with response properties from auditory cortex of age-matched animals. When tested with an identical behavioral procedure, juveniles display poorer AM detection thresholds than adults. Two neurometric analyses indicate that the most sensitive juvenile and adult neurons have equivalent AM thresholds. However, a pooling neurometric revealed that adult cortex encodes smaller AM depths. By each measure, neural sensitivity was superior to psychometric thresholds. However, juvenile training improved adult behavioral thresholds, such that they verged on the best sensitivity of adult neurons. Thus, periods of training may allow an animal to use the encoded information already present in cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma C Sarro
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York, USA.
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Banai K, Sabin AT, Wright BA. Separable developmental trajectories for the abilities to detect auditory amplitude and frequency modulation. Hear Res 2011; 280:219-27. [PMID: 21664958 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2011.05.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2010] [Revised: 05/23/2011] [Accepted: 05/25/2011] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Amplitude modulation (AM) and frequency modulation (FM) are inherent components of most natural sounds. The ability to detect these modulations, considered critical for normal auditory and speech perception, improves over the course of development. However, the extent to which the development of AM and FM detection skills follow different trajectories, and therefore can be attributed to the maturation of separate processes, remains unclear. Here we explored the relationship between the developmental trajectories for the detection of sinusoidal AM and FM in a cross-sectional design employing children aged 8-10 and 11-12 years and adults. For FM of tonal carriers, both average performance (mean) and performance consistency (within-listener standard deviation) were adult-like in the 8-10 y/o. In contrast, in the same listeners, average performance for AM of wideband noise carriers was still not adult-like in the 11-12 y/o, though performance consistency was already mature in the 8-10 y/o. Among the children there were no significant correlations for either measure between the degrees of maturity for AM and FM detection. These differences in developmental trajectory between the two modulation cues and between average detection thresholds and performance consistency suggest that at least partially distinct processes may underlie the development of AM and FM detection as well as the abilities to detect modulation and to do so consistently.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen Banai
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Haifa, Haifa 31905, Israel.
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Vandermosten M, Boets B, Luts H, Poelmans H, Wouters J, Ghesquière P. Impairments in speech and nonspeech sound categorization in children with dyslexia are driven by temporal processing difficulties. RESEARCH IN DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 2011; 32:593-603. [PMID: 21269803 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2010.12.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2010] [Accepted: 12/14/2010] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
Auditory processing problems in persons with dyslexia are still subject to debate, and one central issue concerns the specific nature of the deficit. In particular, it is questioned whether the deficit is specific to speech and/or specific to temporal processing. To resolve this issue, a categorical perception identification task was administered in thirteen 11-year old dyslexic readers and 25 matched normal readers using 4 sound continua: (1) a speech contrast exploiting temporal cues (/bA/-/dA/), (2) a speech contrast defined by nontemporal spectral cues (/u/-/y/), (3) a nonspeech temporal contrast (spectrally rotated/bA/-/da/), and (4) a nonspeech nontemporal contrast (spectrally rotated/u/-/y/). Results indicate that children with dyslexia are less consistent in classifying speech and nonspeech sounds on the basis of rapidly changing (i.e., temporal) information whereas they are unimpaired in steady-state speech and nonspeech sounds. The deficit is thus restricted to categorizing sounds on the basis of temporal cues and is independent of the speech status of the stimuli. The finding of a temporal-specific but not speech-specific deficit in children with dyslexia is in line with findings obtained in adults using the same paradigm (Vandermosten et al., 2010, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107: 10389-10394). Comparison of the child and adult data indicates that the consistency of categorization considerably improves between late childhood and adulthood, particularly for the continua with temporal cues. Dyslexic and normal readers show a similar developmental progress with the dyslexic readers lagging behind both in late childhood and in adulthood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maaike Vandermosten
- Parenting and Special Education Research Group, Laboratory for Experimental ORL, Department of Neurosciences, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
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Ferguson MA, Hall RL, Riley A, Moore DR. Communication, listening, cognitive and speech perception skills in children with auditory processing disorder (APD) or Specific Language Impairment (SLI). JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2011; 54:211-227. [PMID: 20689032 DOI: 10.1044/1092-4388(2010/09-0167)] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Parental reports of communication, listening, and behavior in children receiving a clinical diagnosis of specific language impairment (SLI) or auditory processing disorder (APD) were compared with direct tests of intelligence, memory, language, phonology, literacy, and speech intelligibility. The primary aim was to identify whether there were differences between these characteristics in children with SLI or APD. METHOD Normally hearing children who were clinically diagnosed with SLI (n = 22) or APD (n = 19), and a quasirandom sample of mainstream school (MS) children (n = 47) aged 6-13 years, underwent tests of verbal and nonverbal IQ, digit span, nonsense word repetition, Spoonerisms, reading, grammar, and sentence and VCV nonword intelligibility. Parents completed questionnaires on the children's communication, listening, and behavior. RESULTS There was generally no difference between the performance of the children with SLI and the children with APD on the questionnaire and test measures, and both groups consistently and significantly underperformed compared with the children in the MS group. Speech intelligibility in both noise and quiet was unimpaired in the SLI and APD groups. CONCLUSION Despite clinical diagnoses of SLI or APD, the 2 groups of children had very similar behavioral and parental report profiles, suggesting that the children were differentially diagnosed based on their referral route rather than on actual differences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melanie A Ferguson
- Medical Research Council Institute of Hearing Research Clinical Section, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
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Lower-frequency event-related desynchronization: a signature of late mismatch responses to sounds, which is reduced or absent in children with specific language impairment. J Neurosci 2010; 30:15578-84. [PMID: 21084613 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2217-10.2010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Poor discrimination of nonlinguistic sounds has been implicated in language-learning problems in children, but research evidence has been inconsistent. This study included 32 participants with specific language impairment (SLI) and 32 typically developing controls aged 7-16 years. Frequency discrimination thresholds were estimated in a task where participants had to distinguish a higher-frequency tone from a 1000 Hz tone. Neurophysiological responses were assessed in an oddball paradigm. Stimuli were either 1030 or 1200 Hz pure tones (deviants) presented in a series of standard 1000 Hz tones, or syllables (deviant [da] or [bi] in a series of standard /ba/). On the behavioral task, children (7- to 11-year-olds) had high thresholds, regardless of language status, but teenagers (12-16 years) with SLI had higher thresholds than their controls. Conventional analysis of electrophysiological responses showed no difference between groups for the mismatch negativity (MMN), but the late discriminative negativity (LDN) was reduced in amplitude for smaller deviants in participants with SLI. Time-frequency analysis revealed that, whereas the MMN reflected enhanced intertrial coherence in the theta frequency band, the LDN corresponded to a period of event-related desynchronization extending across a wide low-frequency band including delta, theta, and alpha. This manifested as a drop in power in those frequencies, which was marked in the controls but reduced or absent in children with SLI across all stimulus types. This provides compelling evidence for a low-level auditory perceptual impairment in SLI that affects a processing stage after initial detection of a sound change.
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Leppänen PHT, Hämäläinen JA, Salminen HK, Eklund KM, Guttorm TK, Lohvansuu K, Puolakanaho A, Lyytinen H. Newborn brain event-related potentials revealing atypical processing of sound frequency and the subsequent association with later literacy skills in children with familial dyslexia. Cortex 2010; 46:1362-76. [PMID: 20656284 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2010.06.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 133] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2008] [Revised: 07/16/2009] [Accepted: 09/25/2009] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Moav R, Nevo N, Banai K. Central auditory processing development in adolescents with and without learning disabilities. J Basic Clin Physiol Pharmacol 2009; 20:207-17. [PMID: 19852308 DOI: 10.1515/jbcpp.2009.20.3.207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Auditory processing deficit (APD) is estimated to affect 5% of school-age children and adolescents, and 30-50% of those diagnosed with learning problems. The diagnosis and indeed the existence of APD, however, remain controversial. One reason for this controversy is that the factors contributing to normal variations in auditory processing and its development are poorly understood. To address the developmental issue, we compared the performance of younger (14 yr/o) and older (18 yr/o) adolescents on frequency discrimination, backward masking detection and gap detection using an oddball paradigm. Older adolescents had lower backward masking thresholds compared with younger adolescents, but the prolonged development of thresholds was not accompanied by a corresponding increase in performance consistency. The distribution of thresholds on all three tasks did not differ between typically developing adolescents and those diagnosed with learning disabilities. A questionnaire designed to tap difficulties in daily listening situations also failed to differentiate the two groups. These findings suggest that basing the diagnosis of APD on tests conducted with the oddball procedure requires the establishment of norms from large and age specific samples. They also suggest that the development of auditory sensory acuity in the general population is longer than typically assumed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ronny Moav
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Israel
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Ceponiene R, Cummings A, Wulfeck B, Ballantyne A, Townsend J. Spectral vs. temporal auditory processing in specific language impairment: a developmental ERP study. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2009; 110:107-120. [PMID: 19457549 PMCID: PMC2731814 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2009.04.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2008] [Revised: 04/01/2009] [Accepted: 04/15/2009] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Pre-linguistic sensory deficits, especially in "temporal" processing, have been implicated in developmental language impairment (LI). However, recent evidence has been equivocal with data suggesting problems in the spectral domain. The present study examined event-related potential (ERP) measures of auditory sensory temporal and spectral processing, and their interaction, in typical children and those with LI (7-17 years; n=25 per group). The stimuli were three CV syllables and three consonant-to-vowel transitions (spectral sweeps) isolated from the syllables. Each of these six stimuli appeared in three durations (transitions: 20, 50, and 80 ms; syllables: 120, 150, and 180 ms). Behaviorally, the group with LIs showed inferior syllable discrimination both with long and short stimuli. In ERPs, trends were observed in the group with LI for diminished long-latency negativities (the N2-N4 peaks) and a developmentally transient enhancement of the P2 peak. Some, but not all, ERP indices of spectral processing also showed trends to be diminished in the group with LI specifically in responses to syllables. Importantly, measures of the transition N2-N4 peaks correlated with expressive language abilities in the LI children. None of the group differences depended on stimulus duration. Therefore, sound brevity did not account for the diminished spectral resolution in these LI children. Rather, the results suggest a deficit in acoustic feature integration at higher levels of auditory sensory processing. The observed maturational trajectory suggests a non-linear developmental deviance rather than simple delay.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Ceponiene
- Project in Neural and Cognitive Development, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0113, United States.
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Sanes DH, Bao S. Tuning up the developing auditory CNS. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2009; 19:188-99. [PMID: 19535241 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2009.05.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 96] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2008] [Revised: 05/19/2009] [Accepted: 05/27/2009] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Although the auditory system has limited information processing resources, the acoustic environment is infinitely variable. To properly encode the natural environment, the developing central auditory system becomes somewhat specialized through experience-dependent adaptive mechanisms that operate during a sensitive time window. Recent studies have demonstrated that cellular and synaptic plasticity occurs throughout the central auditory pathway. Acoustic-rearing experiments can lead to an over-representation of the exposed sound frequency, and this is associated with specific changes in frequency discrimination. These forms of cellular plasticity are manifest in brain regions, such as midbrain and cortex, which interact through feed-forward and feedback pathways. Hearing loss leads to a profound re-weighting of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic gain throughout the auditory CNS, and this is associated with an over-excitability that is observed in vivo. Further behavioral and computational analyses may provide insights into how theses cellular and systems plasticity effects underlie the development of cognitive functions such as speech perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan H Sanes
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003, United States.
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Rauschecker AM, Deutsch GK, Ben-Shachar M, Schwartzman A, Perry LM, Dougherty RF. Reading impairment in a patient with missing arcuate fasciculus. Neuropsychologia 2008; 47:180-94. [PMID: 18775735 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.08.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2007] [Revised: 07/27/2008] [Accepted: 08/01/2008] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
We describe the case of a child ("S") who was treated with radiation therapy at age 5 for a recurrent malignant brain tumor. Radiation successfully abolished the tumor but caused radiation-induced tissue necrosis, primarily affecting cerebral white matter. S was introduced to us at age 15 because of her profound dyslexia. We assessed cognitive abilities and performed diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to measure cerebral white matter pathways. Diffuse white matter differences were evident in T1-weighted, T2-weighted, diffusion anisotropy, and mean diffusivity measures in S compared to a group of 28 normal female controls. In addition, we found specific white matter pathway deficits by comparing tensor-orientation directions in S's brain with those of the control brains. While her principal diffusion direction maps appeared consistent with those of controls over most of the brain, there were tensor-orientation abnormalities in the fiber tracts that form the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) in both hemispheres. Tractography analysis indicated that the left and right arcuate fasciculus (AF), as well as other tracts within the SLF, were missing in S. Other major white matter tracts, such as the corticospinal and inferior occipitofrontal pathways, were intact. Functional MRI measurements indicated left-hemisphere dominance for language with a normal activation pattern. Despite the left AF abnormality, S had preserved oral language with average sentence repetition skills. In addition to profound dyslexia, S exhibited visuospatial, calculation, and rapid naming deficits and was impaired in both auditory and spatial working memory. We propose that the reading and visuospatial deficits were due to the abnormal left and right SLF pathways, respectively. These results advance our understanding of the functional significance of the SLF and are the first to link radiation necrosis with selective damage to a specific set of fiber tracts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas M Rauschecker
- Medical Scientist Training Program, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States.
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Dawes P, Bishop DVM. Maturation of visual and auditory temporal processing in school-aged children. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2008; 51:1002-1015. [PMID: 18658067 DOI: 10.1044/1092-4388(2008/073)] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE To examine development of sensitivity to auditory and visual temporal processes in children and the association with standardized measures of auditory processing and communication. Methods Normative data on tests of visual and auditory processing were collected on 18 adults and 98 children aged 6-10 years of age. Auditory processes included detection of pitch from temporal cues using iterated rippled noise and frequency modulation detection at 2 Hz, 40 Hz, and 240 Hz. Visual processes were coherent form and coherent motion detection. Test-retest data were gathered on 21 children. RESULTS Performance on perceptual tasks improved with age, except for fine temporal processing (iterated rippled noise) and coherent form perception, both of which were relatively stable over the age range. Within-subject variability (as assessed by track width) did not account for age-related change. There was no evidence for a common temporal processing factor, and there were no significant associations between perceptual task performance and communication level (Children's Communication Checklist, 2nd ed.; D. V. M. Bishop, 2003) or speech-based auditory processing (SCAN-C; R. W. Keith, 2000). CONCLUSIONS The auditory tasks had different developmental trajectories despite a common procedure, indicating that age-related change was not solely due to responsiveness to task demands. The 2-Hz frequency modulation detection task, previously used in dyslexia research, and the visual tasks had low reliability compared to other measures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Piers Dawes
- Department of Psychology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom.
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Abstract
Development of the human auditory brainstem is thought to be primarily complete by the age of approximately 2 years, such that subsequent sensory plasticity is confined primarily to the cortex. However, recent findings have revealed experience-dependent developmental plasticity in the mammalian auditory brainstem in an animal model. It is not known whether the human system demonstrates similar changes and whether experience with sounds composed of acoustic elements relevant to speech may alter brainstem response characteristics. We recorded brainstem responses evoked by both click and speech syllables in children between the ages of 3 and 12 years. Here, we report a neural response discrepancy in brainstem encoding of these two sounds, observed in 3- to 4-year-old children but not in school-age children. Whereas all children exhibited identical neural activity to a click, 3- to 4-year-old children displayed delayed and less synchronous onset and sustained neural response activity when elicited by speech compared with 5- to 12-year-olds. These results suggest that the human auditory system exhibits developmental plasticity, in both frequency and time domains, for sounds that are composed of acoustic elements relevant to speech. The findings are interpreted within the contexts of stimulus-related differences and experience-dependent plasticity.
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Hämäläinen JA, Leppänen PHT, Guttorm TK, Lyytinen H. Event-related potentials to pitch and rise time change in children with reading disabilities and typically reading children. Clin Neurophysiol 2008; 119:100-15. [PMID: 18320604 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2007.09.064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- J A Hämäläinen
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, PO Box 35, Agora, 40014 Jyväskylä, Finland.
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Geiger G, Cattaneo C, Galli R, Pozzoli U, Lorusso ML, Facoetti A, Molteni M. Wide and Diffuse Perceptual Modes Characterize Dyslexics in Vision and Audition. Perception 2008; 37:1745-64. [DOI: 10.1068/p6036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
We examined the performance of dyslexic and typically reading children on two analogous recognition tasks: one visual and the other auditory. Both tasks required recognition of centrally and peripherally presented stimuli. Dyslexics recognized letters visually farther in the periphery and more diffuse near the center than typical readers did. Both groups performed comparably in recognizing centrally spoken stimuli presented without peripheral interference, but in the presence of a surrounding speech mask (the ‘cocktail-party effect’) dyslexics recognized the central stimuli significantly less well than typical readers. However, dyslexics had a higher ratio of the number of words recognized from the surrounding speech mask, relative to the ones from the center, than typical readers did. We suggest that the evidence of wide visual and auditory perceptual modes in dyslexics indicates wider multi-dimensional neural tuning of sensory processing interacting with wider spatial attention.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Carmen Cattaneo
- Scientific Institute ‘Eugenio Medea’, I 23842 Bosisio Parini (Lecco), Italy
| | - Raffaella Galli
- Scientific Institute ‘Eugenio Medea’, I 23842 Bosisio Parini (Lecco), Italy
| | - Uberto Pozzoli
- Scientific Institute ‘Eugenio Medea’, I 23842 Bosisio Parini (Lecco), Italy
| | | | - Andrea Facoetti
- Scientific Institute ‘Eugenio Medea’, I 23842 Bosisio Parini (Lecco), Italy
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, via Venezia 8, I 35131 Padua, Italy
| | - Massimo Molteni
- Scientific Institute ‘Eugenio Medea’, I 23842 Bosisio Parini (Lecco), Italy
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Postpubertal decrease in hippocampal dendritic spines of female rats. Exp Neurol 2007; 210:339-48. [PMID: 18096161 DOI: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2007.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2007] [Revised: 11/07/2007] [Accepted: 11/08/2007] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Hippocampal dendritic spine and synapse numbers in female rats vary across the estrous cycle and following experimental manipulation of hormone levels in adulthood. Based on behavioral studies demonstrating that learning patterns are altered following puberty, we hypothesized that dendritic spine number in rat hippocampal CA1 region would change postpubertally. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into prepubertal (postnatal day (P) 22), peripubertal (P35) and postpubertal (P49) groups, with the progression of puberty evaluated by vaginal opening, and estrous cyclicity subsequently assessed by daily vaginal smears. Spinophilin immunoreactivity in dendritic spines was used as an index of spinogenesis in area CA1 stratum radiatum (CA1sr) of hippocampus. First, electron microscopy analyses confirmed the presence of spinophilin specifically in dendritic spines of CA1sr, supporting spinophilin as a reliable marker of hippocampal spines in young female rats. Second, stereologic analysis was performed to assess the total number of spinophilin-immunoreactive puncta (i.e. spines) and CA1sr volume in developing rats. Our results indicated that the number of spinophilin-immunoreactive spines in CA1sr was decreased 46% in the postpubertal group compared to the two younger groups, whereas the volume of the hippocampus underwent an overall increase during this same developmental time frame. Third, to determine a potential role of estradiol in this process, an additional group of rats was ovariectomized (OVX) prepubertally at P22, then treated with estradiol or vehicle at P35, and spinophilin quantified as above in rats perfused on P49. No difference in spinophilin puncta number was found in OVX rats between the two hormone groups, suggesting that this developmental decrease is independent of peripheral estradiol. These changes in spine density coincident with puberty may be related to altered hippocampal plasticity and synaptic consolidation at this phase of maturity.
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Bishop DVM, Hardiman M, Uwer R, von Suchodoletz W. Maturation of the long-latency auditory ERP: step function changes at start and end of adolescence. Dev Sci 2007; 10:565-75. [PMID: 17683343 PMCID: PMC2121131 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2007.00619.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The auditory event-related potential (ERP) is obtained by averaging electrical impulses recorded from the scalp in response to repeated stimuli. Previous work has shown large differences between children, adolescents and adults in the late auditory ERP, raising the possibility that analysis of waveform shape might be useful as an index of brain maturity. We reanalysed auditory ERPs from samples previously described by Albrecht, von Suchodoletz and Uwer (2000) and Uwer, Albrecht and von Suchodoletz (2002), using the intraclass correlation (ICC) as a global measure of similarity of an individual's waveform to a grand average comparison waveform for each age band. Three developmental periods were clearly distinguished: 5 to 12 years, 13 to 16 years, and adulthood. However, within each of these periods, there was no evidence of any developmental progression with age.
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Hämäläinen JA, Leppänen PHT, Guttorm TK, Lyytinen H. N1 and P2 components of auditory event-related potentials in children with and without reading disabilities. Clin Neurophysiol 2007; 118:2263-75. [PMID: 17714985 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2007.07.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2007] [Revised: 07/05/2007] [Accepted: 07/05/2007] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The effects of within stimulus presentation rate and rise time on basic auditory processing were investigated in children with reading disabilities and typically reading children. METHODS Children with reading disabilities (RD; N=19) and control children (N=20) were studied using event-related potentials (ERPs). Paired stimuli were used with two different within-pair-intervals (WPI; 10 and 255 ms) and two different rise times (10 and 130 ms). Each stimulus was presented with equal probability and long between-pair inter-stimulus intervals (1-5s). The study focused on N1 and P2 components. RESULTS The P2 responses to the first tone in the pair showed differences between children with RD and control children. Also, children with RD had larger N1 response than control children to stimuli with short WPI and long rise time. CONCLUSIONS These results provide evidence for basic auditory processing abnormalities in children with RD. This processing difference could be related to extraction of stimulus features from sounds or to attentional mechanisms. SIGNIFICANCE Our results show support for behavioral findings that children with RD and control children process rise times differently. More than half of children with RD showed atypical auditory processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- J A Hämäläinen
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, PO Box 35, Agora, 40014 Jyväskylä, Finland.
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Shafer VL, Ponton C, Datta H, Morr ML, Schwartz RG. Neurophysiological indices of attention to speech in children with specific language impairment. Clin Neurophysiol 2007; 118:1230-43. [PMID: 17452008 PMCID: PMC2020430 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2007.02.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2006] [Revised: 01/03/2007] [Accepted: 02/13/2007] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The aim was to determine whether children with specific language impairment (SLI) differed from children with typical language development (TLD) in their allocation of attention to speech sounds. METHODS Event-related potentials were recorded to non-target speech sounds in two tasks (passive-watch a video and attend to target tones among speech sounds) in two experiments, one using 50-ms duration vowels and the second using 250-ms vowels. The difference in ERPs across tasks was examined in the latency range of the early negative difference wave (Nd) found in adults. Analyses of the data using selected superior and inferior sites were compared to those using electrical field power (i.e., global field power or GFP). The topography of the ERP at the maximum GFP was also examined. RESULTS A negative difference, comparable to the adult Nd, was observed in the attend compared to the passive task for both types of analysis, suggesting allocation of attentional resources to processing the speech stimuli in the attend task. Children with TLD also showed greater negativity than those with SLI in the passive task for the long vowels, suggesting that they allocated more attentional resources to processing the speech in this task than the SLI group. This effect was only significant using the GFP analysis and was seen as smaller GFP for the TLD than SLI group. The SLI group also showed significantly later latency than the TLD group in reaching the maximum GFP. In addition, a significantly greater proportion of children with SLI compared to those with typical language showed left-greater-than-right frontocentral amplitude at the latency determined from each child's maximum GFP peak. CONCLUSIONS Children generally showed greater attention to speech sounds when attention is directed to the auditory modality compared to the visual modality. However, children with TLD, unlike SLI, also appear to devote some attentional resources to speech even in a task in which they are instructed to attend to visual information and ignore the speech. SIGNIFICANCE These findings suggest that children with SLI have limited attentional resources, that they are poorer at dividing attention, or that they are less automatic in allocating resources to speech compared to children with typically developing language skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valerie L Shafer
- Speech and Hearing Sciences, The Graduate Center, CUNY, NY, USA.
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Sperling AJ, Lu ZL, Manis FR, Seidenberg MS. Motion-perception deficits and reading impairment: it's the noise, not the motion. Psychol Sci 2007; 17:1047-53. [PMID: 17201786 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01825.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
We tested the hypothesis that deficits on sensory-processing tasks frequently associated with poor reading and dyslexia are the result of impairments in external-noise exclusion, rather than motion perception or magnocellular processing. We compared the motion-direction discrimination thresholds of adults and children with good or poor reading performance, using coherent-motion displays embedded in external noise. Both adults and children who were poor readers had higher thresholds than their respective peers in the presence of high external noise, but not in the presence of low external noise or when the signal was clearly demarcated. Adults' performance in high external noise correlated with their general reading ability, whereas children's performance correlated with their language and verbal abilities. The results support the hypothesis that noise-exclusion deficits impair reading and language development and suggest that the impact of such deficits on the development of reading skills changes with age.
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