AUCKLAND HEARING & EAR HEALTH BLOG 

Musical experience early in life imparts lifelong neuroplasticity.

The EMC Summer Newsletter 2020 is full of news of the latest EMC research grants and hearing research activities throughout Aotearoa.

In this two part interview Dr Gail Chermak provides an excellent overview of current research-based understanding of (C)APD and its diagnosis and treatment.

The PhD thesis research of Dr Joan Leung, Adviser: ASD at SoundSkills APD Clinic, showed that children with ASD can improve their communication skills through training to better appreciate prosody, the subtle changes in speech intonation and stress that denote emotion. Use of remote microphone hearing aid systems assisted the prosody perception training and were beneficial to the children in school.

Auditory training, language and phonological therapies, and remote microphone hearing aid systems are beneficial for children with APD.

The purpose of this study (which included participants from SoundSkills APD Clinic) was to demonstrate the efficacy of Auditory Rehabilitation for Interaural Asymmetry (ARIA) to improve dichotic listening scores in children and adolescents diagnosed with amblyaudia and other binaural integration deficits.

One of the most exciting research findings in the treatment of auditory processing disorder (APD) is the neuroplastic benefit of amplification. It is now well established that, over time, amplification with remote microphone hearing aid systems results in improvements in hearing skills of children with APD due to beneficial neuroplastic changes in the brain.

This article is one among a growing body of research showing the benefits of auditory training and remote microphone hearing aid systems for children and adolescents with ASD.

The aim of this study by Sarah Lawton, speech-language therapist at SoundSkills APD Clinic, was to explore the emotional and psychological consequences of living with APD as perceived by children with the disorder and their parents.

This consensus statement on auditory processing disorder (APD) by experts on APD from 17 European countries was led by Professors Vivian Iliadou (Greece) and Doris Eva-Bamiou (UK).

This study provides strong evidence of beneficial neuroplastic change, measured through improvements in the electrophysiological responses of the brain to speech sounds, in children with auditory processing deficits, as a result of use of mild amplification with remote microphone hearing aid systems.

Hearing loss due to abnormality of neural connections between the inner ear (cochlea) and, or in, the auditory nerve has been dubbed “hidden hearing loss” and is the subject of considerable recent research. Like APD, it is not detected by basic hearing tests. However APD is a far more prevalent condition than cochlear synaptopathy.

Disability terminology: Are we listening?

This study identifies a new type of temporal perception deficit in children with dyslexia; speaking rate perception.

Broad speech-based auditory training leads to improvement in functional hearing in children with APD.

Specific language impairment (SLI) and APD appear intertwined, with the suggestion that differential diagnosis may be influenced by whether a child is assessed by an audiologist or speech-language therapist. Multi-disciplinary assessment (as occurs at SoundSkills) is advisable.

Electrophysiological recordings of responses to sound in children with APD show differences at brainstem and cortical levels of the brain.

The use of remote microphone hearing aid systems reduced listening stress as measured by salivary cortisol and provided a range of benefits for children with ASD.

10-week use of remote microphone hearing aid systems by adult patients with stroke may lead to benefits in unaided speech in noise perception. The findings may indicate auditory plasticity type changes and require further investigation.

Studies of the effects of amplification with remote microphone hearing aid systems for children with auditory processing disorder or dyslexia consistently show therapeutic as well as assistive benefits from the amplification.