The Audiovisual Mismatch Negativity in Predictive and Non-Predictive Speech Stimuli in Older Adults With and Without Hearing Loss.

Adults with aging-related hearing loss (ARHL) experience adaptive neural changes to optimize their sensory experiences; for example, enhanced audiovisual (AV) and predictive processing during speech perception. The mismatch negativity (MMN) event-related potential is an index of central auditory processing; however, it has not been explored as an index of AV and predictive processing in adults with ARHL. In a pilot study we examined the AV MMN in two conditions of a passive oddball paradigm - one AV condition in which the visual aspect of the stimulus can predict the auditory percept and one AV control condition in which the visual aspect of the stimulus cannot predict the auditory percept. In adults with ARHL, evoked responses in the AV conditions occurred in the early MMN time window while the older adults with normal hearing showed a later MMN. Findings suggest that adults with ARHL are sensitive to AV incongruity, even when the visual is not predictive of the auditory signal. This suggests that predictive coding for AV speech processing may be heightened in adults with ARHL. This paradigm can be used in future studies to measure treatment related changes, for example via aural rehabilitation, in older adults with ARHL.

Perceptions and Lived Experiences of Arab American Parent Participants in LENA Start: Lessons for Parent Education Programs in Minoritized Communities.

PURPOSE: This article investigates caregivers' perceived experience as part of the first implementation of LENA Start for Arab American families in New York City, with particular attention to the children's bilingual status as heritage speakers raised in marginalized communities within the United States. METHOD: A qualitative analysis of a semistructured focus group interview conducted with five Arab American mothers who participated in the program was conducted to explore parents' perception and experience of the program using Glaserian grounded theory analysis. RESULTS: Parents reported more talking and reading with their children after participation, but the recorded data showed the changes were not significant. Parents reported that they benefited from the program by gaining a sense of belonging and embracing bilingualism while facing systemic barriers to passing on their heritage language. Parents as a group displayed a range of feelings including fear, trust, appreciation, motivation, and internalized supremacy of Western practices. They also engaged in a range of actions and commitments (i.e., self-reflection, self-growth, and progress) in association with the program. The components reported to be most critical were outside of the scope of the manualized program, such as service delivery in Arabic, a trusting and mutually respectful relationship, and attentiveness to sociopolitical and cultural factors. CONCLUSION: The findings highlight the need for a holistic analysis of parent educational programs in marginalized communities to include qualitative methods that engage with the social, political, and cultural realities of families.

Research Self-Efficacy and Productivity in Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty.

INTRODUCTION: In the field of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) emphasis is placed on advancing research to inform evidence based practice. However, there is little information about the research support and productivity of current faculty members in the discipline. The aims of this study are: to describe the resources and workload of faculty at different types of institutions; to examine whether self-perception of research self-efficacy differs between faculty across institution types; and to investigate whether self-efficacy, institutional factors, or workload characteristics predict research productivity. METHODS: CSD faculty (N = 144) completed an online survey about their institutions, departments, and research resources. Respondents rated their research self-efficacy using the Quantitative and/or Qualitative Research Self Efficacy Inventory. Total Research Productivity was tallied using the Total Research Productivity Index. Responses were analyzed according to the respondent institution's Carnegie Classification and faculty rank to provide a more comprehensive picture of faculty experiences at different kinds of institutions. RESULTS: Faculty across institution types are equally confident in their research abilities and their confidence is related to similar tasks overall. Departmental resources for research are aligned with Carnegie Classifications of institutions. Faculty at research-focused institutions showed overall higher research productivity but also reported spending similar time on departmental service and teaching. Research productivity was predicted by Carnegie Classification and time spent in advisement and clinic supervision. Limited opportunities for doctoral funding and engagement of post-doctoral research fellows were noted. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study further our understanding of the resources and limitations for research in different types of programs that offer CSD degrees. This information is necessary to inform policy decisions regarding academic careers in CSD, provide context for students considering an academic career, and enhance the research productivity of the field.

Neural Correlates of Modality-Sensitive Deviance Detection in the Audiovisual Oddball Paradigm.

The McGurk effect, an incongruent pairing of visual /ga/-acoustic /ba/, creates a fusion illusion /da/ and is the cornerstone of research in audiovisual speech perception. Combination illusions occur given reversal of the input modalities-auditory /ga/-visual /ba/, and percept /bga/. A robust literature shows that fusion illusions in an oddball paradigm evoke a mismatch negativity (MMN) in the auditory cortex, in absence of changes to acoustic stimuli. We compared fusion and combination illusions in a passive oddball paradigm to further examine the influence of visual and auditory aspects of incongruent speech stimuli on the audiovisual MMN. Participants viewed videos under two audiovisual illusion conditions: fusion with visual aspect of the stimulus changing, and combination with auditory aspect of the stimulus changing, as well as two unimodal auditory- and visual-only conditions. Fusion and combination deviants exerted similar influence in generating congruency predictions with significant differences between standards and deviants in the N100 time window. Presence of the MMN in early and late time windows differentiated fusion from combination deviants. When the visual signal changes, a new percept is created, but when the visual is held constant and the auditory changes, the response is suppressed, evoking a later MMN. In alignment with models of predictive processing in audiovisual speech perception, we interpreted our results to indicate that visual information can both predict and suppress auditory speech perception.