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Objective The purpose of the current study was to evaluate auditory, visual and audiovisual speech perception abilities among two groups of cochlear implant (CI) users: prelingual children and long-term young adults, as compared to their normal hearing (NH) peers. Methods Prospective cohort study that included 50 participants, divided into two groups of CI (10 children and 10 adults), and two groups of normal hearing peers (15 participants each). Speech stimuli included monosyllabic meaningful and nonsense words in a signal to noise ratio of 0 dB. Speech stimuli were introduced via auditory, visual and audiovisual modalities. Results (1) CI children and adults show lower speech perception accuracy with background noise in audiovisual and auditory modalities, as compared to NH peers, but significantly higher visual speech perception scores. (2) CI children are superior to CI adults in speech perception in noise via auditory modality, but inferior in the visual one. Both CI children and CI adults had similar audiovisual integration. Conclusions The findings of the current study show that in spite of the fact that the CI children were implanted bilaterally, at a very young age, and using advanced technology, they still have difficulties in perceiving speech in adverse listening conditions even when adding the visual modality. This suggests that adding audiovisual training might be beneficial for this group by improving their audiovisual integration in difficult listening situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objectives: Many features of fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) resemble those of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The goal of this study was to investigate the comorbidity of FMS and PTSD in a cohort of men following an intensive, initial, defined traumatic event. Methods: One hundred twenty-four males (55 patients with PTSD, 20 patients with major depression, and 49 controls) were evaluated for the presence of FMS. The major traumatic events in all PTSD patients were combat-related. Each individual completed questionnaires characterizing his disease, disabilities, and quality of life. Results: Forty-nine percent of PTSD patients, compared to 5% of major depression patients and none of normal controls, fulfilled the American College of Rheumatology criteria for FMS (P<.0001). Significant correlations were detected between tender points and measured parameters in the PTSD group. Conclusions: In male patients, PTSD is highly associated with FMS. The degree and impact of these disorders are also highly related. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The main debate concerning dyslexia focuses on the question of whether dyslexia is a language-specific disorder or a general nervous system dysfunction manifested in deficits of temporal processing. According to the temporal-order deficit hypothesis, dyslexia manifests difficulty in discriminating the temporal order of stimuli. Evidence has usually involved testing the ability to discriminate series of phonemes or pure tones whose components are separated by very short intervals. One of the difficulties in interpreting the data is the confound of changes in the spectrum with changes in temporal order. Two experiments are reported. In the first experiment, we verified the difficulty by adult dyslexics in judging the temporal order of two tones differing in frequency and presented diotically. The second experiment was designed to isolate temporal-order judgment (TOJ) from holistic frequency-based pattern discrimination processes. We tested temporal-order judgments with 15ms duration tones of equal frequency presented dichotically (left–right, right–left) with ISI intervals ranging from 8 to 400ms. Dichotic temporal threshold was significantly lower for adult normal readers than for the adult dyslexics. The results support the claim that adult dyslexics have difficulty in discriminating temporal order even when no spectral changes are involved. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Imaging and neurocognitive studies have searched for the brain areas involved in speech perception, specifically when speech is accompanied by noise, attempting to identify the underlying neural mechanism(s). Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a noninvasive, painless cortical neuromodulation technique, has been used to either excite or inhibit brain activity in order to better understand the neural mechanism underlying speech perception in noise. In the present study, anodal (excitatory) and cathodal (inhibitory) stimulations were performed on 48 participants, either over the left Inferior Frontal Gyrus (IFG), which includes Broca's area (n = 10 anodal, and n = 10 cathodal) or over the left Superior Temporal Gyrus (STG), which includes Wernicke's area (n = 13 anodal, n = 15 cathodal). Speech perception was measured using a sentence recognition task accompanied by white noise with a signal-to-noise ratio of −10 dB. Speech perception performance was measured four times: at baseline, after each of the two sessions of stimulation (one active and one sham session, the order of which was randomized between participants), and at a two-week follow-up session. Groups receiving anodal and cathodal stimulation over the left IFG did not show an effect of stimulation type. For groups receiving left STG stimulation, anodal stimulation resulted in higher scores, regardless of whether it was given before or after sham stimulation. However, cathodal stimulation showed an effect only when active stimulation was applied following sham stimulation. These results showed that tDCS had a direct effect on improving speech perception only over left STG. Furthermore, while anodal stimulation was effective in whatever order it was given, cathodal stimulation was effective only following sham stimulation, thereby allowing some amount of training. These findings carry both theoretical and clinical implications for the relationship between the DMN's left IFG and left STG areas during speech perception accompanied by background noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fatigue following sleep deprivation adversely affects various aspects of human performance. It also induces recognizable voice changes, but the literature is inconsistent regarding their nature. The current study used acoustical analyses to assess the effect of 24 hours of sleep deprivation on vocal parameters of young adults. Forty-seven participants (23 females and 24 males) were tested after nocturnal sleep and after 24 hours of sleep deprivation. Different voice samples were recorded (sustained phonation, words, and sentences) and analyzed for fundamental frequency (F 0 , in Hz), vocal intensity (in dB), harmonic-noise ratio (HNR, in dB), jitter, and shimmer (in %). The main finding was significantly higher HNR values following sleep deprivation than nocturnal sleep for females, across all voice samples. The HNR is a measure of the degree of acoustic periodicity, or the amount of noise compared to the harmonic quality present in the voice. As its values are higher, the voice quality is perceptually better. The current results indicate that females had a significantly higher ratio of vocal harmonics compared to vocal noise when they were sleep deprived. In contrast, following nocturnal sleep, the ratio of vocal harmonics compared to vocal noise was lower, which means the voice quality was poorer. This may explain the common perceptual impressions of decreased voice quality after sleep, which may be more pronounced in females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This groundbreaking research compares the experience of stuttering among adult male People Who Stutter (PWS) from the ultra-Orthodox (UO) Jewish community in Israel to those from Secular/Traditional (ST) backgrounds. Methods Participants were 32 UO and 31 ST PWS, aged 18–67 years. Self-report questionnaires utilized: Perceived Stuttering Severity (PSS); Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering (OASES-A); Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (SLSS); Situation Avoidance Behavior Checklist (SABC). Demographic, religious, and stuttering information was collected. Groups were compared on scales, and correlations between scales and the PSS. Results Subjective stuttering severity ratings were significantly higher among the UO. A significant group effect was found for the OASES-A quality of life subscale, but not other subscales. Significant positive correlations were found between: 1) PSS and OASES-A Total Impact; 2) PSS and 3 OASES subscales; and 3) PSS and SABC (indicating increased avoidance with increased stuttering severity rating). A significant negative correlation was found between the PSS and SLSS, indicating lower life satisfaction with higher rates of stuttering severity among the ST. Interestingly, when tested by group, significant correlations between the PSS and all other study measures were observed only among the ST. Conclusion UO participants showed higher subjective stuttering severity ratings, yet less impact on quality of life, and no correlation between subjective stuttering and other measures of stuttering experience. These novel findings may result from the combined protective effect of religiosity and socio-cultural characteristics on UO PWS’ well-being, despite heightened concern about social consequences of stuttering within UO society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Individuals with schizophrenia are known to demonstrate reduced or reversed brain asymmetry. While much is known regarding anatomical brain asymmetry, little is known about how this affects the individual at the functional level. Based on the known leftward bias in normal individuals, the aim of this study was to explore whether any difference in this function would be noted in schizophrenia. This study therefore investigated the phenomenon of functional asymmetry in schizophrenia patients by means of the following tasks: line bisection, line trisection (assessing hemifield spatial neglect) and letter cancellation (assessing contralateral visuospatial exploration). Forty-five schizophrenia inpatients maintained on antipsychotic medication were evaluated. Transections were measured for accuracy, lateralization, and directional bias. In the line bisection task subjects indicated no pseudo-neglect, thus differing from a normal, leftward bias. In the line trisection there was a significant preference to perform the ambiguous instruction on the right side, with no consistent bias in accuracy. Irrespective of conditions, in the letter cancellation task there was always a significant tendency to succeed on the left third compared to the right third. Results may support findings in schizophrenia indicating decreased or altered function of the left hemisphere. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Event-Related Potential (ERP) studies of PTSD have reported enhanced P3 amplitudes in response to trauma-related stimuli that are less likely to habituate over time. In the present study, we compared ERPs to the first and last half of an auditory novelty oddball task using neutral (trauma-unrelated) stimuli. Participants were 59 young students who were: trauma-exposed with "Probable PTSD", trauma-exposed without PTSD, or non-traumatized controls. Reduced P3 amplitudes were observed for the last half of the trials for the entire sample, but this habituation was less profound for both trauma-exposed groups, demonstrating reduced habituation over time. Arousal symptom severity and trauma history negatively correlated with P3 amplitude habituation across the entire sample. Reduced N1 amplitudes for the last half of the trials were found in both trauma-exposed groups, but not among controls. Our findings suggest that trauma-exposed individuals exhibit information processing alterations in response to neutral environmental stimuli that may be related to a general pattern of heightened activity of the Salience Network. Implications for the neurobiological model of PTSD and PTSD psychotherapy are discussed. • Higher P3 amplitude/reduced habituation to traumatic stimuli was reported for PTSD. • We studied ERPs of trauma-exposed participants with and without PTSD, and controls. • Using neutral stimuli, we compared first/last half of auditory novelty oddball task. • Reduced P3 habituation found among trauma-exposed, correlating with arousal severity. • Trauma may be associated with alteration in Salience Network activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]