Maternal occupational noise exposure during pregnancy and children's early language acquisition.

INTRODUCTION: Noise exposure during pregnancy may affect a child's auditory system, which may disturb fetal learning and language development. We examined the impact of occupational noise exposure during pregnancy on children's language acquisition at the age of one. METHODS: A cohort study was conducted among women working in the food industry, as kindergarten teachers, musicians, dental nurses, or pharmacists who had a child aged <1 year. The analyses covered 408 mother-child pairs. Language acquisition was measured using the Infant-Toddler Checklist. An occupational hygienist assessed noise exposure individually as no (N = 180), low (70-78 dB; N = 108) or moderate/high exposure (>79 dB; N = 120). RESULTS: Among the boys, the adjusted mean differences in language acquisition scores were -0.4 (95% CI -2.5, 1.8) for low, and -0.7 (95% CI -2.9, 1.4) for moderate/high exposure compared to no exposure. Among the girls the respective scores were +0.1 (95% CI -2.2, 2.5) and -0.1 (95% CI -2.3, 2.2). Among the children of kindergarten teachers, who were mainly exposed to human noise, low or moderate exposure was associated with lower language acquisition scores. The adjusted mean differences were -3.8 (95% CI -7.2, -0.4) for low and -4.9 (95% CI -8.6, -1.2) for moderate exposure. CONCLUSIONS: In general, we did not detect an association between maternal noise exposure and children's language acquisition among one-year-old children. However, the children of kindergarten teachers exposed to human noise had lower language acquisition scores than the children of the non-exposed participants. These suggestive findings merit further investigation by level and type of exposure.

Complex response inhibition and cognitive flexibility in school-aged Cypriot-Greek-speaking children who stutter.

Purpose: Over the last few years, research findings have suggested limitations in executive function (EF) of children who stutter (CWS) with the evidence being more consistent in studies with preschoolers (3-6 years old) than in studies with school-aged children (6-12 years old). The purpose of the current study was to assess complex response inhibition and cognitive flexibility in school-aged CWS and their non-stuttering peers. Methods: Participants, 19 CWS (mean age = 7.58 years, range 6.08-9.17) and 19 age-and gender-matched children who do not stutter (CWNS; mean age = 7.58 years, range 6.08-9.33), completed a visual task consisting of three task blocks. Analyses were based on response times and error percentages during the different task blocks. Results: All participants showed expected performance-costs in task block comparisons targeting complex response inhibition and cognitive flexibility. Significant group differences were found in measures of cognitive flexibility with CWS performing slower compared to CWNS (p = 0.02). Additionally, significant block × group interactions demonstrated that CWS, compared to CWNS, slowed down more (i.e., higher performance-cost) under both complex response inhibition (p = 0.049) and cognitive flexibility task conditions (p = 0.04 for no-set-shifting and p = 0.02 for set-shifting). Conclusion: These results are in line with some of the previous findings in school-aged CWS and suggest that CWS present lower performance in complex response inhibition and cognitive flexibility task conditions when compared to their non-stuttering peers.

Generalized Slowing Rather Than Inhibition Is Associated With Language Outcomes in Both Late Talkers and Children With Typical Early Development.

Purpose While most of the children who are identified as late talkers at the age of 2 years catch up with their peers before school age, some continue to have language difficulties and will later be identified as having developmental language disorder. Our understanding of which children catch up and which do not is limited. The aim of the current study was to find out if inhibition is associated with late talker outcomes at school age. Method We recruited 73 school-aged children (ages 7-10 years) with a history of late talking (n = 38) or typical development (n = 35). Children completed measures of language skills and a flanker task to measure inhibition. School-age language outcome was measured as a continuous variable. Results Our analyses did not reveal associations between inhibition and school-age language index or history of late talking. However, stronger school-age language skills were associated with shorter overall response times on the flanker task, in both congruent and incongruent trials. This effect was not modulated by history of late talking, suggesting that a relationship between general response times and language development is similar in both children with typical early language development and late talkers. Conclusions Inhibition is not related to late talker language outcomes. However, children with better language outcomes had shorter general response times. We interpret this to reflect differences in general processing speed, suggesting that processing speed holds promise for predicting school-age language outcomes in both late talkers and children with typical early development. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.14226722.

Decreased occipital alpha oscillation in children who stutter during a visual Go/Nogo task.

OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to discover attention- and inhibitory control-related differences in the main oscillations of the brain of children who stutter (CWS) compared to typically developed children (TDC). METHODS: We performed a time-frequency analysis using wavelets, fast Fourier transformation (FFT) and the Alpha/Theta power ratio of EEG data collected during a visual Go/Nogo task in 7-9 year old CWS and TDC, including also the time window between consecutive tasks. RESULTS: CWS showed significantly reduced occipital alpha power and Alpha/Theta ratio in the "resting" or preparatory period between visual stimuli especially in the Nogo condition. CONCLUSIONS: The CWS demonstrate reduced inhibition of the visual cortex and information processing in the absence of visual stimuli, which may be related to problems in attentional gating. SIGNIFICANCE: Occipital alpha oscillation is elementary in the control and inhibition of visual attention and the lack of occipital alpha modulation indicate fundamental differences in the regulation of visual information processing in CWS. Our findings support the view of stuttering as part of a wide-ranging brain dysfunction most likely involving also attentional and inhibitory networks.

Auditory Attentional Set-Shifting and Inhibition in Children Who Stutter.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether previously reported parental questionnaire-based differences in attentional shifting and inhibitory control (AS and IC; Eggers, De Nil, & Van den Bergh, 2010) would be supported by direct measurement of AS and IC using a computer task. Method: Participants were 16 Finnish children who stutter (CWS; mean age = 7.06 years) and 16 Finnish children who do not stutter (mean age = 7.05 years). Participants were matched on age (±8 months) and gender. AS and IC were assessed by the auditory set-shifting task of the Amsterdam Neuropsychological Tasks (De Sonneville, 2009). Results: No group differences were found for the speed of auditory AS or IC. However, CWS, as a group, scored significantly lower on the accuracy (error percentage) of auditory AS. In addition, CWS, compared with the children who do not stutter, showed a higher increase in error percentages under AS and IC conditions. Conclusions: The findings on error percentages partly corroborate earlier questionnaire-based findings showing difficulties in CWS on AS and IC. Moreover, it also seems to imply that CWS are less able to slow down their responses to achieve higher accuracy rates.

Noise Equally Degrades Central Auditory Processing in 2- and 4-Year-Old Children.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate developmental and noise-induced changes in central auditory processing indexed by event-related potentials in typically developing children. Method: P1, N2, and N4 responses as well as mismatch negativities (MMNs) were recorded for standard syllables and consonants, frequency, intensity, vowel, and vowel duration changes in silent and noisy conditions in the same 14 children at the ages of 2 and 4 years. Results: The P1 and N2 latencies decreased and the N2, N4, and MMN amplitudes increased with development of the children. The amplitude changes were strongest at frontal electrodes. At both ages, background noise decreased the P1 amplitude, increased the N2 amplitude, and shortened the N4 latency. The noise-induced amplitude changes of P1, N2, and N4 were strongest frontally. Furthermore, background noise degraded the MMN. At both ages, MMN was significantly elicited only by the consonant change, and at the age of 4 years, also by the vowel duration change during noise. Conclusions: Developmental changes indexing maturation of central auditory processing were found from every response studied. Noise degraded sound encoding and echoic memory and impaired auditory discrimination at both ages. The older children were as vulnerable to the impact of noise as the younger children. Supplemental materials: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5233939.

Atypical brain activation in children who stutter in a visual Go/Nogo task: An ERP study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate inhibitory control by evaluating possible differences in the strength and distribution of the brain activity in a visual Go/Nogo task in children who stutter (CWS) compared to typically developing children (TDC). METHODS: Eleven CWS and 19 TDC participated. Event related potentials (ERP) were recorded using a 64-channel EEG-cap during an equiprobable visual Go/Nogo task. The global field power (GFP) as well as the mean amplitudes in the P3 time frame were compared between groups. Additionally, the potential maps of the groups were investigated visually in the N2 and P3 time windows. RESULTS: The groups differed significantly in the right frontal area especially in the Nogo condition (p<0.001) with CWS showing smaller (less positive) mean amplitudes, most likely due to a prolonged and asymmetrical N2 component. Also the fronto-central Nogo P3 component was rather indistinct in CWS, but easily recognizable in TDC in the potential maps. CONCLUSIONS: The CWS show atypical brain activation compared to the TDC in a Go/Nogo task as indexed by the excessive N2-related activity in both conditions and reduced P3-related activity in Nogo condition. SIGNIFICANCE: These findings indicate atypical stimulus evaluation and response inhibition processes in CWS.

Delayed N2 response in Go condition in a visual Go/Nogo ERP study in children who stutter.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: The main aim of the study was to investigate the attentional and inhibitory abilities and their underlying processes of children who stutter by using behavioural measurement and event-related potentials (ERP) in a visual Go/Nogo paradigm. METHODS: Participants were 11 children who stutter (CWS; mean age 8.1, age range 6.3-9.5 years) and 19 typically developed children (TDC; mean age 8.1, age range 5.8-9.6 years). They performed a visual Go/Nogo task with simultaneous EEG recording to obtain ERP responses. RESULTS: Results showed that CWS had longer N2 and P3 latencies in the Go condition compared to the TDC. In contrast, the groups did not differ significantly in the Nogo condition or behavioural measures. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings did not confirm less efficient inhibitory control in CWS but suggest atypical attentional processing such as stimulus evaluation and response selection. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: The reader will be able to (a) describe recent findings on attention and inhibitory control in children who stutter, (b) describe the measurement of attentional processing, including inhibitory control, and (c) describe the findings on attentional processing in children who stutter as indexed by the event-related potentials in a visual Go/Nogo paradigm.

Long-term influence of recurrent acute otitis media on neural involuntary attention switching in 2-year-old children.

BACKGROUND: A large group of young children are exposed to repetitive middle ear infections but the effects of the fluctuating hearing sensations on immature central auditory system are not fully understood. The present study investigated the consequences of early childhood recurrent acute otitis media (RAOM) on involuntary auditory attention switching. METHODS: By utilizing auditory event-related potentials, neural mechanisms of involuntary attention were studied in 22-26 month-old children (N = 18) who had had an early childhood RAOM and healthy controls (N = 19). The earlier and later phase of the P3a (eP3a and lP3a) and the late negativity (LN) were measured for embedded novel sounds in the passive multi-feature paradigm with repeating standard and deviant syllable stimuli. The children with RAOM had tympanostomy tubes inserted and all the children in both study groups had to have clinically healthy ears at the time of the measurement assessed by an otolaryngologist. RESULTS: The results showed that lP3a amplitude diminished less from frontal to central and parietal areas in the children with RAOM than the controls. This might reflect an immature control of involuntary attention switch. Furthermore, the LN latency was longer in children with RAOM than in the controls, which suggests delayed reorientation of attention in RAOM. CONCLUSIONS: The lP3a and LN responses are affected in toddlers who have had a RAOM even when their ears are healthy. This suggests detrimental long-term effects of RAOM on the neural mechanisms of involuntary attention.

Attention and Working Memory in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Functional MRI Study.

The present study examined attention and memory load-dependent differences in the brain activation and deactivation patterns between adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and typically developing (TD) controls using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Attentional (0-back) and working memory (WM; 2-back) processing and load differences (0 vs. 2-back) were analysed. WM-related areas activated and default mode network deactivated normally in ASDs as a function of task load. ASDs performed the attentional 0-back task similarly to TD controls but showed increased deactivation in cerebellum and right temporal cortical areas and weaker activation in other cerebellar areas. Increasing task load resulted in multiple responses in ASDs compared to TD and in inadequate modulation of brain activity in right insula, primary somatosensory, motor and auditory cortices. The changes during attentional task may reflect compensatory mechanisms enabling normal behavioral performance. The inadequate memory load-dependent modulation of activity suggests diminished compensatory potential in ASD.

Identification of biological and environmental risk factors for language delay: The Let's Talk STEPS study.

The aim of this population-based study was to identify demographic factors for language delays at an early age. The risk analysis covered 11 biological and 8 environmental factors. The mothers' concerns regarding language development were also examined. A total of 226 children from a Finnish cohort study were invited to participate in language assessments at 36 months. The test results for word finding and language comprehension were compared with parental questionnaires about children's vocabulary at 13 and 24 months. Regression analysis revealed that the father's social class (t=-2.79, p=0.006) and working full time (t=-2.86, p=0.005) significantly predicted children's language delay. In addition, language comprehension was significantly predicted by the mother's social class (t=-2.06, p=0.041) and by gender, with an advantage to girls (t=-2.71, p=0.008). Vocabulary at 24 months was a powerful predictor for lexical development (t=4.58, p<0.0001) and language comprehension (t=4.85, p<0.0001) at 36 months. Mothers' concerns were correlated with children's limited lexicons as early as 24 months (r=0.31, p<0.0001) and poor language comprehension (r=-0.35, p<0.0001) at 36 months. Mothers were especially concerned if the parents needed special education during school years. At the population-level, gender was the most powerful biological factor in predicting language delays. Similarly, both parents' social status had predictive value for the child's language development. In addition, it was found that the mother's concern about her child's slow language acquisition should be taken into account when making decisions regarding special support.

Event-Related Potentials Reflect Deficits in Lexical Access: The N200 in Prematurely Born School-Aged Children.

OBJECTIVES: Children born preterm have a high prevalence of neurocognitive deficits early in life. We examined whether the neural correlates of lexical access are atypical in 9-year-old children born preterm, and whether the findings of acoustic mapping correlate with language- and attention-related skills. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The subjects were fourteen 9-year-old children born preterm and 14 full-term, typically developing controls. Two auditory event-related potential (ERP) components, the N200 and the N400, were used to assess discrimination response and word recognition. A set of behavioral tests (naming ability, auditory attention, phonological processing, pseudoword repetition, and comprehension of instructions) was performed, and the results were compared with the amplitudes, latencies, and scalp distribution of the ERP results. RESULTS: In prematurely born children, neurophysiological deficits were associated with difficulties in auditory discrimination. The N200 amplitude correlated significantly with auditory attention and pseudoword repetition. The scalp distribution of both the N200 and the N400 was broader in children born preterm than in the controls. Low scores in the neuropsychological tasks referred to difficulties in auditory processing and memory. CONCLUSIONS: Children born preterm have difficulties in lexical access together with memory- and attention-related processes, which may have a longstanding impact on their school outcomes and academic skills.

Background Noise Degrades Central Auditory Processing in Toddlers.

OBJECTIVES: Noise, as an unwanted sound, has become one of modern society's environmental conundrums, and many children are exposed to higher noise levels than previously assumed. However, the effects of background noise on central auditory processing of toddlers, who are still acquiring language skills, have so far not been determined. The authors evaluated the effects of background noise on toddlers' speech-sound processing by recording event-related brain potentials. The hypothesis was that background noise modulates neural speech-sound encoding and degrades speech-sound discrimination. DESIGN: Obligatory P1 and N2 responses for standard syllables and the mismatch negativity (MMN) response for five different syllable deviants presented in a linguistic multifeature paradigm were recorded in silent and background noise conditions. The participants were 18 typically developing 22- to 26-month-old monolingual children with healthy ears. RESULTS: The results showed that the P1 amplitude was smaller and the N2 amplitude larger in the noisy conditions compared with the silent conditions. In the noisy condition, the MMN was absent for the intensity and vowel changes and diminished for the consonant, frequency, and vowel duration changes embedded in speech syllables. Furthermore, the frontal MMN component was attenuated in the noisy condition. However, noise had no effect on P1, N2, or MMN latencies. CONCLUSIONS: The results from this study suggest multiple effects of background noise on the central auditory processing of toddlers. It modulates the early stages of sound encoding and dampens neural discrimination vital for accurate speech perception. These results imply that speech processing of toddlers, who may spend long periods of daytime in noisy conditions, is vulnerable to background noise. In noisy conditions, toddlers' neural representations of some speech sounds might be weakened. Thus, special attention should be paid to acoustic conditions and background noise levels in children's daily environments, like day-care centers, to ensure a propitious setting for linguistic development. In addition, the evaluation and improvement of daily listening conditions should be an ordinary part of clinical intervention of children with linguistic problems.

Atypical central auditory speech-sound discrimination in children who stutter as indexed by the mismatch negativity.

PURPOSE: Recent theoretical conceptualizations suggest that disfluencies in stuttering may arise from several factors, one of them being atypical auditory processing. The main purpose of the present study was to investigate whether speech sound encoding and central auditory discrimination, are affected in children who stutter (CWS). METHODS: Participants were 10 CWS, and 12 typically developing children with fluent speech (TDC). Event-related potentials (ERPs) for syllables and syllable changes [consonant, vowel, vowel-duration, frequency (F0), and intensity changes], critical in speech perception and language development of CWS were compared to those of TDC. RESULTS: There were no significant group differences in the amplitudes or latencies of the P1 or N2 responses elicited by the standard stimuli. However, the Mismatch Negativity (MMN) amplitude was significantly smaller in CWS than in TDC. For TDC all deviants of the linguistic multifeature paradigm elicited significant MMN amplitudes, comparable with the results found earlier with the same paradigm in 6-year-old children. In contrast, only the duration change elicited a significant MMN in CWS. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that central auditory speech-sound processing was typical at the level of sound encoding in CWS. In contrast, central speech-sound discrimination, as indexed by the MMN for multiple sound features (both phonetic and prosodic), was atypical in the group of CWS. Findings were linked to existing conceptualizations on stuttering etiology. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: The reader will be able (a) to describe recent findings on central auditory speech-sound processing in individuals who stutter, (b) to describe the measurement of auditory reception and central auditory speech-sound discrimination, (c) to describe the findings of central auditory speech-sound discrimination, as indexed by the mismatch negativity (MMN), in children who stutter.

Effects of recurrent acute otitis media on cortical speech-sound processing in 2-year old children.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate at the age of 2 years the effects of childhood recurrent acute otitis media (RAOM) on central auditory processing by using cortical event-related potentials elicited by syllable stimuli. DESIGN: During a 1-year period, 22- to 26-month-old children fulfilling the criteria for tympanostomy tube insertion in Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland, were recruited to the RAOM group (N = 20). The control group (N = 19) was matched by age, sex, and mother's educational level. In both groups, children were typically developing and had no family history of language disorder or developmental language problems. Finnish syllables /ke:/ and /pi:/ as standards and their variants with changes in frequency, intensity, vowel, consonant, and vowel duration as deviants were used to record P1, N2, and mismatch negativity (MMN) responses in the multifeature paradigm. The clinically healthy ears at the time of registration were a prerequisite for the participation. RESULTS: Children with RAOM and their controls showed the age-typical P1 and N2 responses with no differences in the amplitudes or latencies between the groups, which suggests unaffected basic encoding of sound features and sound representation formation. However, the groups showed different auditory discrimination profiles. In children with RAOM, frequency and vowel MMN amplitudes were increased. Furthermore, the MMN latency for the frequency change was shorter and the frequency MMN amplitude lateralized to the left hemisphere in the RAOM group instead of an adult-like right-hemispheric lateralization observed in the controls. The children with RAOM had a more anterior MMN amplitude scalp distribution for the intensity change than control children. In addition, the MMN amplitude elicited by consonant change was evenly distributed unlike in controls, who had a left-side preponderant lateralization. Taken together, these results suggest an elevated responsiveness for frequency, vowel, and intensity changes, and an immature pattern of discriminating small speech sound contrasts in children with RAOM. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that childhood RAOM does not affect the central auditory pathway integrity or sound encoding. However, RAOM may lead to aberrant preattentive discrimination of sound features even when the peripheral auditory input is normal. These results are clinically significant because even transient problems with auditory processing may delay language development.

Resting state fMRI reveals a default mode dissociation between retrosplenial and medial prefrontal subnetworks in ASD despite motion scrubbing.

In resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) decreased frontal-posterior functional connectivity is a persistent finding. However, the picture of the default mode network (DMN) hypoconnectivity remains incomplete. In addition, the functional connectivity analyses have been shown to be susceptible even to subtle motion. DMN hypoconnectivity in ASD has been specifically called for re-evaluation with stringent motion correction, which we aimed to conduct by so-called scrubbing. A rich set of default mode subnetworks can be obtained with high dimensional group independent component analysis (ICA) which can potentially provide more detailed view of the connectivity alterations. We compared the DMN connectivity in high-functioning adolescents with ASDs to typically developing controls using ICA dual-regression with decompositions from typical to high dimensionality. Dual-regression analysis within DMN subnetworks did not reveal alterations but connectivity between anterior and posterior DMN subnetworks was decreased in ASD. The results were very similar with and without motion scrubbing thus indicating the efficacy of the conventional motion correction methods combined with ICA dual-regression. Specific dissociation between DMN subnetworks was revealed on high ICA dimensionality, where networks centered at the medial prefrontal cortex and retrosplenial cortex showed weakened coupling in adolescents with ASDs compared to typically developing control participants. Generally the results speak for disruption in the anterior-posterior DMN interplay on the network level whereas local functional connectivity in DMN seems relatively unaltered.

Linguistic multi-feature paradigm as an eligible measure of central auditory processing and novelty detection in 2-year-old children.

This study evaluated whether the linguistic multi-feature paradigm with five types of speech-sound changes and novel sounds is an eligible neurophysiologic measure of central auditory processing in toddlers. Participants were 18 typically developing 2-year-old children. Syllable stimuli elicited significant obligatory responses and syllable changes significant MMN (mismatch negativity) which suggests that toddlers can discriminate auditory features from alternating speech-sound stream. The MMNs were lateralized similarly as found earlier in adults. Furthermore, novel sounds elicited a significant novelty P3 response. Thus, the linguistic multi-feature paradigm with novel sounds is feasible for the concurrent investigation of the different stages of central auditory processing in 2-year-old children, ranging from pre-attentive encoding and discrimination of stimuli to attentional mechanisms in speech-like research compositions. As a conclusion, this time-efficient paradigm can be applied to investigating central auditory development and impairments in toddlers in whom developmental changes of speech-related cortical functions and language are rapid.

Valence scaling of dynamic facial expressions is altered in high-functioning subjects with autism spectrum disorders: an fMRI study.

FMRI was performed with the dynamic facial expressions fear and happiness. This was done to detect differences in valence processing between 25 subjects with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and 27 typically developing controls. Valence scaling was abnormal in ASDs. Positive valence induces lower deactivation and abnormally strong activity in ASD in multiple regions. Negative valence increased deactivation in visual areas in subjects with ASDs. The most marked differences between valences focus on fronto-insular and temporal regions. This supports the idea that subjects with ASDs may have difficulty in passive processing of the salience and mirroring of expressions. When the valence scaling of brain activity fails, in contrast to controls, these areas activate and/or deactivate inappropriately during facial stimuli presented dynamically.

Los niños prematuros tienen un alto riesgo de dificultades en el procesamiento auditivo central, evidenciadas mediante los potenciales evocados auditivos / Children born preterm have high risk for central auditory processing deficits, as indexed by the auditory brain event-related potentials (ERPs)

Una parte importante del desarrollo cerebral y de las redes neuronales se produce durante las últimas 6 semanas de gestación. Por consiguiente, el cerebro inmaduro es muy susceptible a las consecuencias del nacimiento prematuro y a un desarrollo atípico de los procesos neurobiológicos. Se ha observado que el nacimiento pretérmino afecta con mayor frecuencia a la maduración del cerebro en las áreas frontal, temporal media y parietooccipital, que son importantes para los procesos auditivos, lingüísticos y cognitivos y para la integración de la información recibida. Muchos niños prematuros presentan deficiencias en el procesamiento auditivo central (PAC) a nivel de la codificación de los rasgos sonoros. Nuestros estudios de seguimiento muestran que los niños prematuros también presentaban déficit en la discriminación auditiva central, medida a través del potencial de disparidad (MMN, del inglés mismatch negativity). Además, los déficit en la discriminación auditiva central se correlacionaban con la adquisición del lenguaje. Estos déficit persisten, con frecuencia, desde la primera infancia hasta la edad escolar. Por estos motivos, se debería evaluar el PAC desde una edad temprana para poder organizar una rehabilitación oportuna y específica para este tipo de trastorno (AU)

A significant proportion of brain development and networking occurs during the last six weeks of gestation. Therefore, the immature brain is highly susceptible to the consequences of preterm birth, and atypical timing of neurobiological processes. It has been shown that preterm birth impairs brain maturation most frequently in the frontal as well as mid-temporal and parieto-occipital cortices that are important for auditory, language and cognitive processes and for integration of the information received. Many children born preterm have deficits in central auditory processing (CAP) at the level of sound feature encoding. Our follow-up studies showed that children born preterm have also deficits at the level of central auditory discrimination, as indexed by the mismatch negativity (MMN). Furthermore, deficits in central auditory discrimination correlated with language acquisition. These deficits often persist from infancy up to school age. For these reasons CAP should be evaluated from early age on to arrange timely and disorder specific rehabilitation (AU)

HRV and EEG based indicators of stress in children with Asperger syndrome in audio-visual stimulus test.

Asperger syndrome (AS) is a neurobiological condition which is characterized by poor skills in social communication, and restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. We studied whether stress-related indices of heart rate variability (HRV) and electroencephalography (EEG) are different in children with AS than normal controls. We analyzed retrospectively the data of the test where audiovisual stimuli were used. We hypothesized that this test is a stressful situation for individuals with AS and they would have a greater reaction than control subjects. EEG and one-channel electrocardiography (ECG) were collected for children with diagnosis of AS (N = 20) and their age-matched controls (N = 21). HRV indices, frontal EEG asymmetry index and brain load index were calculated. HRV based indices revealed increased sympathetic activity during the test in children with AS. EEG based indices increased more in children with AS during the test compared to baseline. Thus, the children with AS seems to have a greater reaction to stressful situation.