Poor School Performance And Auditory Evoked Potential- A Review

Poor school performance, defined as a lower than expected academic achievement for a given age, cognitive abilities, and schooling, is complex and multifactorial. Poor school performance can result in child with low self–esteem and can cause significant stress to the parents. It is essential that cause for the poor school performance to be identified and appropriate strategy or treatment plan to be started early so that child can perform with full potential. Disorders of the auditory system affect academic performance are well known. Unlike speech and other behavioral auditory processing tests, auditory evoked potential (AEP) can be recorded regardless of a child’s developmental age or language, motivation or attention level. AEP can provide numerical data that can demonstrate central auditory nervous system maturation and, therefore can function as a biomarker of poor academic performance. Present study focuses on the researches that are done on the auditory evoked potential in poor school performance till recently

Sensory, cognitive and motor assessment of children with poor academic performance: An auditory evoked potential study.

The present study aims to evaluate the auditory sensory process in the brainstem, thalamocortical and cortical areas by using auditory evoked potentials [auditory brainstem response (ABR), mid latency response (MLR) and slow vertex response (SVR)], cognitive functions by P300 and motor response by reaction time in children with poor academic performance. Thirty children between 6–12 years of age were selected as subjects on the basis of poor academic school records. While thirty children with good academic performance served as controls. The recordings were done using a computerized evoked potential recorder by 10–20 electrode placement system. There was no difference in the anthropometric parameters and IQ of the two groups. There was a significant increase in latency of waves II, III, IV and V, and Inter-peak latency I-V of ABR in poor performer females. All the component waves of MLR and SVR showed increased latency in the subjects but could not reach the level of significance. There was a significant increase in latencies of P300 at Cz and Pz electrode positions with no change in amplitude in poor performer females. The reaction time was also increased in the poor performer females as compared to the controls. The latencies of all the waves of ABR, P300 and reaction time are also increased in male poor performers as compared to male controls but could not reach the level of significance. The conduction of impulses is slower in pontine and midbrain auditory pathway along with inefficient cortical processing of task relevant stimuli and motor response in female children having poor academic performance.