Multisensory effects of mask wearing on speech intelligibility and the benefit of multilingualism / Efeitos multissensoriais do uso de máscara na inteligibilidade da fala e o benefício do multilinguismo

ABSTRACT Purpose Due to the pandemic of the Covid-19 disease, it became common to wear masks on some public spaces. By covering mouth and nose, visual-related speech cues are greatly reduced, while the auditory signal is both distorted and attenuated. The present study aimed to analyze the multisensory effects of mask wearing on speech intelligibility and the differences in these effects between participants who spoke 1, 2 and 3 languages. Methods The study consisted of the presentation of sentences from the SPIN test to 40 participants. Participants were asked to report the perceived sentences. There were four conditions: auditory with mask; audiovisual with mask; auditory without mask; audiovisual without mask. Two sessions were conducted, one week apart, each with the same stimuli but with a different signal-to-noise ratio. Results Results demonstrated that the use of the mask decreased speech intelligibility, both due to a decrease in the quality of auditory stimuli and due to the loss of visual information. Signal-to-noise ratio largely affects speech intelligibility and higher ratios are needed in mask-wearing conditions to obtain any degree of intelligibility. Those who speak more than one language are less affected by mask wearing, as are younger listeners. Conclusion Wearing a facial mask reduces speech intelligibility, both due to visual and auditory factors. Older people and people who only speak one language are affected the most.

RESUMO Objetivo Devido à pandemia da doença Covid-19, o uso de máscaras em espaços públicos tornou-se comum. Ao cobrir a boca e o nariz, reduzem-se amplamente as pistas visuais associadas à fala, assim como se distorce e atenua o sinal auditivo. Este estudo teve como objetivo analisar os efeitos multissensoriais do uso da máscara na percepção da fala e a diferença entre participantes falantes de uma, duas ou três línguas. Método Este estudo consistiu na apresentação de frases do SPIN teste a 40 participantes. Os participantes tinham como tarefa reportar as frases percebidas em quatro condições: Auditiva com máscara, audiovisual com máscara, auditiva sem máscara, audiovisual sem máscara. Conduziram-se duas sessões, com uma semana de intervalo, cada uma com os mesmos estímulos mas com diferente relação sinal-ruído. Resultados Os resultados demonstraram que o uso de máscara reduz a inteligibilidade da fala, tanto devido à diminuição da qualidade do estímulo auditivo, como devido à perda de informação visual. A relação sinal-ruído afeta a inteligibilidade e com o uso de máscara são necessárias relações mais altas para obter qualquer identificação correta. Aqueles que falam mais do que uma língua, assim como os mais novos, são menos afetados na percepção de fala com uso de máscara. Conclusão O uso de máscara facial reduz a inteligibilidade da fala, tanto devido a fatores visuais como auditivos. Indivíduos monolíngues, assim como os mais velhos, são os mais afetados nesta tarefa.

Pruebas de fusión auditiva y de detección de gaps: evaluación de la resolución auditiva temporal / Auditory fusion and gap detection tests: assessment of auditory temporal resolution

RESUMEN Dentro de los distintos mecanismos del procesamiento auditivo, los aspectos temporales de la audición se consideran como uno de los más relevantes ya que serían la base para el adecuado funcionamiento del resto de los procesos auditivos centrales. Los aspectos temporales de la audición se definen como los procesos implicados en la percepción del sonido y de sus variaciones en el dominio temporal. Uno de los aspectos temporales más ampliamente estudiados, por su relevancia en la percepción y discriminación de los sonidos del habla, ha sido la resolución auditiva temporal, que se refiere a la mínima cantidad de tiempo necesaria para que un individuo pueda discriminar entre dos estímulos auditivos distintos. En los últimos años, se ha utilizado principalmente metodologías de detección de fusión auditiva y detección de gaps para su evaluación. Ambas han dado origen a una serie de pruebas psicoacústicas, de las cuales destacan tres: la prueba de fusión auditiva revisada, la prueba de detección de gaps aleatorios y la prueba de gaps en ruido. Se recomienda la incorporación de alguna de estas pruebas en la evaluación clínica ante la sospecha de trastornos del procesamiento auditivo.

ABSTRACT Among the different mechanisms of auditory processing, the temporal aspects of hearing are considered as one of the most relevant since they would be the basis for the proper functioning of the rest of the central auditory processes. Temporal aspects of hearing are defined as the processes involved in the perception of sound and its variations in the temporal domain. One of the most widely studied temporal aspects due to its relevance in the perception and discrimination of speech sounds has been the temporal auditory resolution, which refers to the minimum amount of time necessary for an individual to discriminate between two different auditory stimuli. In recent years, the mainly used methodologies for evaluate it are the hearing fusion detection and gaps detection. Both methodologies have given rise to several psychoacoustic tests, of which three have been highlighted: the revised auditory fusion test, the random gap detection test and gaps in noise test. It is recommended the incorporation of any of these tests in the clinical evaluation of suspected auditory processing disorders.

Effect of different glucocorticoid administration routes in treatment of children's secretory otitis media and impacts on immunologic function / 中国免疫学杂志

Objective:To analyze the effect of different glucocorticoid administration routes in the treatment of children's secretory otitis media and impacts on immunologic function.Methods:Clinical data of children with secretory otitis media received treatment at our hospital from January 2016 to June 2016 were analyzed.Patients were divided into two groups by different glucocorticoid administration routes,Group A:intratympanic injection;Group B:oral administration.After one week,clinical effects and immunologic functions were tested and compared between the two groups.Results:A total of 87 patients were analyzed,Group A 45 cases,Group B 42 cases.After one week treatment,both of the two groups got significantly improved in audiology indexe (P<0.05),however,these index were more better in Group A when compared with those of Group B(P<0.05).Meanwhile,Group A patients got higher cure rate than that of Group B (91.1%,41/45 vs 73.8%,31/42;X2=4.558,P=0.033).Both of the two groups got significantly improved in CD3+T,CD4+T and CD4/CD8 (P<0.05) and decreased in CD8,IL-4,IFN-γ and IL-4/IFN-γ(P<0.05),but these markers changed more significant in Group A (P<0.05).Group A patients had a lower recurrence rate than Group B patients one year after treatment, the difference was statistically significant (9.76%,4/41 vs 29.03%,9/31;Log-rank X2=4.698,P=0.030).Conclusion:The treatment of children's secretory otitis media,the intratympanic injection of glucocorticoid shows a better effect than that of oral cortico-steroids.

Effects of an electric standing bed and a dynamic electric standing bed on auditory evoked potential in healthy people / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

Objective To observe and compare the effect of training using an electric standing bed or a dy-namic electric standing bed on the auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs) in the brainstems of healthy people. Methods Twenty healthy people were divided into a common group ( n=10) and a dynamic group ( n=10) . The common group accepted training using an electric standing bed, while the dynamic group accepted training using a dynamic electric standing bed. Before and after the training, BAEPs were measured and compared using variance analysis. Results The latencies of the I, III and V waves among the common group were not significantly different from those of the dy-namic group before the training. After the training, however, the average wave V latency was significantly shorter than that in the common group. After the training there were, however, no significant differences in the I-III, I-V or III-V interpeak latencies in the common group, nor in the I-III interpeak latency in the dynamic group compared with before the training. In the dynamic group the average I-V and III-V interpeak latencies after the training were significantly shorter than those beforehand. However, there were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of the I-III, I-V or II-V interpeak latency after the training. Conclusion Compared with training using an electric standing bed, a dynamic electric standing bed gives significantly greater improvement in the latency and interpeak latency of BAEP waves.

Effects of sleep epileptiform discharge on aural pre-attentive processing of children with benign childhood epilepsy with central-temporal spikes / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

Objective To explore the relationship between aural pre-attentive processing and non-rapid eye movement(NREM) sleep interictal epileptiform discharge (IED) in children with benign childhood epilepsy with central-temporal spikes (BECTS),in order to provide objective electrophysiological basis for early assessment of cognitive function lesion of BECTS children and intervention.Methods Twenty-nine children diagnosed as BECTS in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University from February 2012 to November 2015 were selected,including 17 males and 12 females,and they were 4-14 years old with average age of (9.17 ±2.42) years,and the course of disease was 0.5-4.0 years.Twenty healthy children who had hospital routine check-up were selected as healthy control group,containing 14 males and 6 females,and they were 5-13 years old with average age of (8.55 ±3.09) years.Mismatch negativity (MMN) test was carried out in both groups,and the MMN amplitudes and latencies were analyzed.The long-term video electroencephalogram (VEEG) monitoring was conducted in the BECTS group to analyze the discharge phases (waking,sleep),locations and the IED indexes.The intergroup MMN indexes and the correlation between MMN and VEEG in the BECTS group were compared.Results The VEEG showed that the sleep structure of BECTS children did not change obviously.All children's epileptiform discharges were located in the Rolandic area,including 11 cases on the left side,8 cases on the right side,and 10 cases on both sides.Epilepsy discharge time:17 patients showed epileptiform discharges in sleep stages only and 12 patients showed epileptiform discharge in both sleep and waking stages.Epileptiform discharges of the 12 patients increased more significantly in sleep stage than thatin waking stage [(40.24 ± 25.15) times/min vs.(1.92 ± 1.38) times/rmin],and the difference was statistically significant (t =5.270,P =0.000).The sample IED index in stage 1 and 2 of NREM was (40.73 ± 10.69) times/min,in which 2 cases had IED indexes ＜ 5 times/min,the IED indexes of 3 cases ＞ 80 times/min who reached electrical status epilepticus during sleep,and others were 17.2-64.6 times/min.Clinical seizures in sleep stages were monitored in only 4 cases,which showed an electro-clinical segregation phenomenon from large quantities of sleep IED.The MMN amplitude was lower in the BECTS group than that in the healthy control group [(6.06 ± 1.89) μV vs.(7.28 ±1.64) μV],and the difference was statistically significant (t =2.346,P =0.025).Latency of BECTS group was longer than that in the healthy control group [(191.37 ±40.13) ms vs.(179.35 ±39.80) ms],but the difference was not statistically significant(t =1.037,P =0.355).Correlation analysis showed that the MMN amplitude was negatively related to discharge phases (r =-0.407,P ＜ 0.05) and the IED indexes (r =-0.644,P ＜ 0.01),and latency was positively related to the IED indexes (r =0.386,P ＜ 0.05),while the other VEEG indexes were not correlated with MMN.Conclusions The BECTS children have aural pre-attentive processing disturbance,especially unconscious automatic processing ability impairment,which weakenattention switch action of automatic processing switching to focused attention processing and fail to filter irrelevant information effectively.Sleep IED is an important factor in impairing the formation and reinforcement of acoustic discrimination and memory trace,interfering the acquisition,processing,storage and matching of new information,which induces children pre-attentive processing disturbance.The MMN may discover the electrophysiological changes of children pre-attentive processing disturbance in early stage.

Cirugía del colesteatoma y audición / Cholesteatoma surgery and audition

Introducción: El colesteatoma es una entidad clínica que se presenta principalmente en edades medias de la vida. El tratamiento definitivo es quirúrgico, el cual apunta a erradicar la enfermedad, mientras que mantener o mejorar la audición es un objetivo secundario. Existen diversas técnicas quirúrgicas siendo la aticoantromastoidectomía con o sin preservación de la pared posterosuperior del conducto auditivo externo la más utilizada. Objetivos: Caracterizar a la población sometida a tratamiento quirúrgico del colesteatoma en el Hospital Clínico de la Universidad de Chile y determinar los cambios auditivos posoperatorios. Material y método: Se realiza un estudio descriptivo retrospectivo en donde se analizan los procedimientos quirúrgicos entre los años 2007y 2012. Se registran y analizan datos individuales, valores audiométricos pre y posoperatorios y tipo de cirugía realizada. Resultados: Se incluyen 143 pacientes con promedio de edad de 41 años, siendo el 56% de sexo masculino. El 54,5% fueron aticoantromastoidectomía; 21,6% aticoantrostomía; 16,7% aticoantromastoidectomía más timpanoplastía IIIA y 6,7% aticoantromastoidectomía más timpanoplastía IIIB. Los umbrales auditivos se mantuvieron en la aticoantrostomía, en la aticoantromastoidectomía y en la aticoantromastoidectomía con timpanoplastía tipo IIIB, mientras que la audición mejoró significativamente en las aticoantromastoidectomía con timpanoplastía tipo IIIA. Conclusión: La técnica mayormente utilizada en el Hospital Clínico de la Universidad de Chile para el manejo del colesteatoma es la aticoantromastoidectomía con o sin preservación de la pared posterosuperior del conducto auditivo. Aquellos pacientes a los que se les asocia una timpanoplastía tipo IIIA presentan una mejoría auditiva significativa.

Introduction: The cholesteatoma is a clinical entity that presents mostly in middle ages. The definitive treatment is surgery; which aims to eradicate the disease, while maintaining or improving hearing thresholds is a secondary goal. Several surgical techniques have been described, being the tympanomastoidectomy with or without preservation of the postero-superior wall of the external auditory canal the most commonly used. Aim: To characterize the population that underwent surgical treatment forcholesteatoma in the Clinical Hospital of the University of Chile and to determine the post-surgical hearing thresholds changes. Methods: Retrospective and descriptive study of the surgical procedures carried out between the years 2007 and 2012. Individual data, pre and post-surgical treatment audiometric values and types of surgery are registered and analyzed. Results: 143 patients were included with a 41 year age average, 56% were males. 54,4% of surgeries were tympanomastoidectomy; 21,6% atticotomy; 16,7% tympanomastoidectomy with type IIIA tympanoplasty and 6,7% tympanomastoidectomy with type IIIB tympanoplasty. Hearing thresholds were maintained in atticotomy, tympanomastoidectomy and tympanomastoidectomy with type IIIB tympanoplasty, while hearing thresholds improved in the tympanomastoidectomy with type IIIA tympanoplasty reconstruction. Conclusion: The most used technique for cholesteatoma treatment in the Clinical Hospital of the University of Chile was tympanomastoidectomy with or without preservation of the posterosuperior wall of the external ear canal. Patients who had a type IIIA tympanoplastyimproved their hearing thresholds.

Bi-modal enhancement effect from combination of visual and auditory stimulus / 国际生物医学工程杂志

Objective To investigate the cognitive difference between uni-modal (V,A) and bi-modal (VA)target stimuli from both vision and audition,and then to study the neural mechanisms of bi-modal enhancement.Methods This experiment adopted a speeded target stimuli detection task, both behavioral and electroencephalographic responses to uni-modal and bi-modal target stimuli which were combined from visual and auditory target stimuli,were recorded from 14 normal subjects using a 64-channel EEG NeuroScan system.The differences of cognitive between uni-modal and bi-modal stimulus were tested from both behavioral (reaction time (RT) and error rate (ER)) and event-related potentials (ERPs) (P2 latency and amplitude,P3 latency and amplitude)data,and the correlation between behavioral and ERPs results were analyzed.Results As a result,the RT,ER and P3 latency has significant difference between uni-modal and bi-modal target stimuli.In addition,there were significant correlation between behavioral data and P3 latency,especially from the RT and P3 latency.Conclusion By comparing the difference between uni-modal and bi-modal from both behavioral and ERPs results,we could reached the conclusion that the neural mechanism of bi-modal target detection was predominant over that of vision and audition uni-modal target detection,the enhancement take place not only involved in early ERP components (such as P1 and N1),but engaged at the late ERP components (such as P2 and P3).

Deficiência visual e plasticidade no cérebro humano / Visual impairment and cerebral plasticity in the human brain / Deficiencia visual y plasticidad cerebral

O ser humano é capaz de analisar o mundo à sua volta por meio de informações provenientes das diversas modalidades sensoriais. A percepção do mundo a cada momento envolve a integração dessas informações em áreas multissensoriais existentes no cérebro humano. Dessa forma, podem-se imaginar as profundas transformações que ocorrem no cérebro após a perda de uma aferência sensorial. Estudos anatômicos, fisiológicos e comportamentais em animais têm sugerido que mudanças plásticas compensatórias devem também ocorrer nos seres humanos, alterando as conexões do córtex visual com os córtices somestésico e auditivo. Utilizando as novas idéias sobre as áreas multimodais e metamodais, pretendemos analisar como ocorre a reorganização dos sentidos remanescentes após a perda da visão.

Humans are able to analyze the world through information derived from various sensory modalities. After the loss of a given sense, anatomical, physiological and behavioral studies have shown that compensatory plastic changes take place in the cortex, first through the unmasking of synaptic contributions from other modalities, even in primary sensory areas. This fact underscores the metamodal theory of sensory cortical function and can be used to devise effective strategies to train the blind to compensate their loss through better use of the remaining sensory modalities.

El ser humano es capaz de analizar el mundo que lo rodea a través de información de las diversas modalidades sensoriales. La percepción del mundo en cada momento implica la integración de información multisensorial en las áreas existentes en el cerebro humano. Así, uno puede imaginar los profundos cambios que ocurren en el cerebro después de la pérdida de un aferente sensorial. Los cambios anatómicos, fisiológicos y de comportamiento en animales han sugerido que los cambios compensatorios plásticos también debem ocurrir en los seres humanos, cambiando las conexiones de la corteza visual con las cortezas auditivas y somestésicas. Con nuevas ideas sobre las áreas multimodal y metamod, analizamos la reorganización de los sentidos restantes después de la pérdida de la visión.

Conhecimento auditivo da população usuária do Sistema Único de Saúde / Unified National Health System users' knowledge about hearing

OBJETIVO: Analisar a percepção, hábitos e conhecimentos auditivos da população usuária do Sistema Único de Saúde das cidades do Vale do Aço. MÉTODOS: Participaram deste estudo, 255 indivíduos distribuídos por Unidades Básicas de Saúde, na faixa etária de 20 a 60 anos. Foram aplicados questionários com 14 perguntas sobre percepção, hábitos e conhecimentos auditivos. RESULTADOS: Em relação às questões de percepção auditiva, foram obtidos os seguintes resultados: 74,9 por cento escutam bem; 63,1 por cento têm dificuldade em acompanhar conversa; dor de ouvido (54,5 por cento); zumbido (46,7 por cento); plenitude auricular (41,2 por cento). Com relação a hábitos dos entrevistados, constatou-se: utilizar objetos para limpar o ouvido (80,4 por cento); ouvir som alto (31,4 por cento); usar fones de ouvido (7,1 por cento), julgar prejudicial ouvir som alto (84,7 por cento); considerar saudável o uso do cotonete (71 por cento); acreditar na cura da surdez (66,9 por cento). Encontrou-se relação estatisticamente significativa entre percepção auditiva de não ouvir bem e dificuldade em acompanhar conversa (p<0,001); presença de zumbido (p<0,001) e sensação de plenitude auricular (p<0,001). Dos que referiram não escutar bem, 83,8 por cento nunca foram submetidos a exame auditivo nem receberam orientação alguma de profissionais da saúde sobre a audição (p<0,001). CONCLUSÕES: Houve grande prevalência de hábitos auditivos prejudiciais, a percepção auditiva dos usuários foi considerável e a população apresentou pouco conhecimento acerca da audição, o que leva a questionar a efetividade das ações de Saúde Auditiva da Atenção Básica propostas pela Portaria 587/2004.

PURPOSE: To analyze the perception, habits and knowledge about hearing of a population of Brazilian Unified Health System users at cities from the Vale do Aço region. METHODS: Two hundred and fifty five individuals distributed by Primary Care Units and with ages varying from 20 to 60 years participated on the study. They answered a questionnaire that contained 14 questions regarding perception, habits and knowledge about hearing. RESULTS: Regarding the questions about hearing perception, 74.9 percent of the subjects reported to have a good hearing; 63.1 percent have some difficulty accompanying conversations; 54.5 percent have earache, 46.7 percent have tinnitus, and 41.2 percent have auricular plenitude. Regarding habits, 80.4 percent of the subjects reportedly use objects to clean their ears, 31.4 percent hear loud music, 7.1 percent use earphones, 84.7 percent judge that high volumes are harmful; 71 percent consider the use of cotton swabs to be healthy, and 66.9 percent believe that deafness is treatable. Statistically significant correlations were found between the perception of bad hearing and difficulties accompanying conversations (p<0.001), presence of tinnitus (p<0.001) and auricular plenitude (p<0.001). From the subjects that reported not to hear well, 83.8 percent were never submitted to hearing tests and had never received orientations from health professionals about hearing abilities (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: There was a great prevalence of harmful hearing habits; subjects hearing perception was considerable, while knowledge about hearing was revealed deficient. These results lead to the questioning of the effectiveness of primary care actions regarding hearing health, as proposed by the Ordinance 567/2004.

Ocorrência das habilidades auditivas em crianças frequentadoras de centros de educação infantil da cidade de araraquara / Occurrence of the auditory skills in children following education centers in Araraquara

As habilidades auditivas são um conjunto de processos centrais envolvidos na detecção e na interpretação de eventos sonoros, desenvolvendo-se junto com a maturação do sistema nervoso auditivo central. A análise da ocorrência dessas habilidades constitui uma parte integrante dos procedimentos da triagem fonoaudiológica proposta para o programa de parceria entre a Secretaria Municipal de Educação e o Curso de Fonoaudiologia da cidade de Araraquara. O objetivo desse estudo foi levantar a ocorrência das habilidades auditivas em crianças de 4 e 5 anos de idade, freqüentadoras de Centros de Educação e Recreação (CERs) de Araraquara. A amostra constou de 75 crianças dentro da faixa etária citada, de ambos os sexos, freqüentadoras de quatro CERs, selecionados de acordo com áreas regionais, de forma aleatória, para garantir uma amostra representativa do município. Foi realizada análise dos dados obtidos através da aplicação da triagem das habilidades auditivas nas referidas crianças durante o ano de 2001. A triagem foi composta pelas provas de reflexo cocleopalpebral, discriminação auditiva, seqüencialização e localização sonora. Os resultados indicaram que a maioria das crianças pesquisadas apresentou as habilidades auditivas esperadas para a idade. Entretanto, algumas crianças não as apresentaram, evidenciando possível comprometimento auditivo, seja ele periférico e/ou central. Sendo assim, acreditamos que é de suma importância o acompanhamento do desenvolvimento das crianças em idade pré-escolar freqüentadoras de CERs, em especial o desenvolvimento de fala, linguagem e audição, para que se possam diagnosticar possíveis alterações e realizar intervenções precoces, a fim de minimizar prováveis distúrbios comunicativos futuros.

Auditory skills are a group of central processes involved in detection and interpretation of the sonorous events, developing according to maturation of auditory central nervous system. The analysis of the occurence of these skills constitutes an integral part of the speech therapeutic screening which is a program established between the Education City Departament and the Speech Therapy Scholl in Araraquara. The point of this study is checking the occurrence the auditory skills in children with four and five years old, following the Recreation and Education Centers (RECs) of Araraquara. The sample consisted of 75 children with the mentioned age, of both sexes, chosen according to local areas at random to guarantee a representative sample of the city. Data from the screening carried out in 2001 were analyzed. Screening included tests for cocleopalpebral reflex, auditory discrimination, sonorous sequences and localization. The results indicated that the majority of the children presentes the auditory abilities expected for their age. However, some children didn't present them, evidencing a possible peripheral and/or central auditory disturbancet. We believe that assessing children development in garden school age following Recreation and Education Centers, especially voice, language and audition, is a very important measure to diagnose possible alterations and institute eraly interventions, so that communicative disorders can be avoied in the futurely.

Dynamical Observation of Peak Pressure of Tympanogrom Before and After Radiotherapy for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma / 听力学及言语疾病杂志

Objective To explore the changes of the peak pressure of tympanogrom in the first year before and after radiotherapy for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NPC) and observe its effect to audition.Methods Acoustic immittance and audiometry were used to detect 64 ears of NPC patients at regular intervals (before, during,at the end of rediotherapy and 6,12 months after radiotherapy). The data were collected and analyzed with statistic methods. Results There were 9 ears with secretory otitis media after radiotherapy. The peak pressure of tympanogrom of other 55 ears was negative at the beginning of radiation, reached highest at the end of radiotherapy,the average was -30(-100, 5.0) daPa.Compared with the peak pressure of tympanogrom before radiation, there was significant statistic difference ( P =0.001). The peak pressure reached to the level of pre-radiation 12 months after radiation, 5.0(-2.5,10.0) daPa. The 2.0 kHz audiometric threshold of bone conduction was 21.4?5.7 dB in 55 ears, compared with the audiometric threshold before radiation, there was evident statistic difference (P