Purpose: The purpose of the current study was to investigate cortical associates of emotional reactivity and emotion regulation (as indexed by the amplitude of evoked response potentials [ERP]) in young children who do and do not stutter during passive viewing of pleasant, unpleasant and neutral pictures. Method: Participants were 17 young children who stutter and 19 young children who do not stutter (between 4 years 0 months to 6 years 11 months). The dependent measures were (1) mean amplitude of late positive potential (LPP, an evoked response potential (ERP) sensitive to emotional stimuli) during passive (i.e., no response required) picture viewing and directed reappraisal tasks as well as (2) emotional reactivity and regulation related scores on caregiver reports of young childrenâs temperament (Childrenâs Behavior Questionnaire [CBQ] Rothbart, Ahdadi, Hershey & Fisher, 2001). Results: Main findings indicated that young CWS, when compared to their CWNS peers, exhibited significantly greater LPP amplitudes to the unpleasant pictures. Further, for only CWS, there were significant correlations between cortical measures of emotional reactivity and aspects of their temperament; also, only for CWS there were significant correlations between cortical measures of emotion regulation and temperamentally-related measures of emotion. Conclusions: Results were taken to suggest that CWS, when compared to CWNS, are more emotionally reactive to negatively-valenced stimuli (as indicated by cortical measures of emotional reactivity) and that CWSâs emotional reactivity and regulation (as indexed by cortical measures of emotional reactivity and regulation) are correlated with their caregiver reports of emotional reactivity and regulation, while such correlations were not observed for CWNS.

No description available.

Children with hearing loss are at risk for vocabulary delays which can subsequently impact their language and literacy outcomes. Although direct vocabulary instruction can be effective, previous research indicates teachers can maximize young childrenâs vocabulary learning by incorporating linguistic input strategies throughout the school day. Linguistic input â the language children are exposed to â is especially effective when it occurs during adult-to-child speech. This exploratory study sampled five teachersâ use of three linguistic input strategies in a preschool for children with hearing loss who use spoken language: 1) instructional vocabulary during free play, 2) conversational turns, and 3) reading aloud. The results indicated teachersâ use of the target linguistic input strategies was highly variable across teachers. Relatively low use of the target strategies could indicate missed opportunities to support childrenâs vocabulary development. However, because all of the teachers provided linguistic support, the results show these strategies can feasibly be delivered in preschools for children with hearing loss.

No description available.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Child Health-Neurodevelopment. January 2017 / Aim and objectives: The aim of this study was to describe the hearing screening profile of children between 0-6 years living with HIV/AIDS currently on HAART at a virology clinic within a tertiary hospital in Gauteng using an audiological screening protocol. The objectives were to describe the demographic profile of children on HAART undergoing hearing screening, to determine the relationship between CD4 percent and the duration on HAART, to document and describe the occurrence of possible outer ear abnormalities, to document and describe the occurrence of possible middle ear pathologies and to document and describe the occurrence of possible inner ear pathologies. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional, prospective descriptive study; using purposive criterion sampling. It was conducted at a tertiary provincial hospital in Gauteng. A questionnaire and a hearing screening protocol was used to obtain data. Consent was obtained from the parent/caregiver of all participants. Ethical approval was obtained from the hospital and the University of Witwatersrand Medical Ethical Committee prior to the study. Results: There was the presence of possible ear pathologies detected by the hearing screening. The possible outer ear abnormalities existed in 26% of ears, possible middle ear pathologies existed in 29% of ears and possible inner ear pathologies existed in 1% of ears. However as the frequency increased the number of refers obtained in DPOAE screening also increased, which could be indicative of early cochlear pathology (inner ear pathology) in the high frequencies. Conclusions: Audiological screening in infants and children living with HIV/AIDS may be essential, as there may be a wide range of possible hearing deficits. If undiagnosed or not identified and managed early these deficits may result in language and cognitive delays. / MT2017

The decision regarding cochlear implantation is complex and involves the consideration of a multitude of factors that will influence the future of a hearing impaired child. Parents are often faced with the task of making this decision urgently during a period when they dealing with the diagnosis of a hearing loss. To date, there is sparse literature available on parental readiness for cochlear implantation. An understanding of parental experiences during the decision making process will help professionals involved in the cochlear implant teams to help parents through this difficult decision making time and hence have significant clinical implications for future practice. This is particularly relevant in South Africa where there is very little literature to guide both parents and professionals with regard to decision making. The objective of this study was to determine parental descriptions of their experiences with regard to the decision of cochlear implantation for their young children with hearing loss as well as the factors that needed to be considered by the parents for the child when deciding on a cochlear implant. Semi structured interviews were conducted with 13 parents at a Learning Facility in South Africa. The results revealed that the decision for cochlear implantation was based on two critical factors which were the sense of urgency and the future of the child. Other considerations such as the financial consideration, surgical risk, aesthetics, communicative outcomes, family consensus, and parental readiness were identified. The power of professionals during this time when decisions are being made in the context of ignorance and within an oral environment was revealed. This finding raised the question of the ethical and moral practice of professionals involved in cochlear implantation.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / Normal hearing is typically defined by threshold audibility, or the loudness of sounds that an individual is able to hear. This convention exists despite the fact that everyday communication relies on extracting and interpreting features of supra-threshold sound. Many normal-hearing listeners struggle to perform certain supra-threshold auditory tasks, and debate persists as to whether such difficulties originate from deficits in cognitive processing or in peripheral, sensory encoding. In this work, we show that there are large individual differences among normal-hearing adults (18 to 55 years), who were asked to report a stream of digits located directly ahead in a simulated rectangular room. Simultaneous, competing masker digit streams were simulated at locations 15° left and right of center, and the level of reverberation was adjusted to vary task difficulty. Performance was best in the anechoic condition and worst in the high-reverberation condition, but listeners nearly always reported a digit from one of the three competing streams, showing that reverberation did not render the digits unintelligible. Most importantly, inter-subject differences were extremely large. These differences were not significantly correlated with age, memory span, or hearing status. They were, however, correlated with behavioral differences in the ability to detect small frequency modulations in pure tones and with the strength of the frequency following response (FFR), a physiological measure of spectro-temporal detail encoding in supra-threshold sounds early in the auditory pathway. The decomposition of the FFR into envelope and carrier components shows that envelope frequency following is the preferred cue for completing the spatial attention task, but it degrades with early aging. As a result, older listeners depend more on carrier phase locking cues than younger people. These results suggest that differences in peripheral encoding help explain individual differences in the ability to communicate in challenging settings, but that aging also has a separate, dissociable effect on early encoding in the auditory system. Tests like these may help tease apart contributions of peripheral and central deficits to communication impairments, ultimately leading to new approaches for helping listeners cope with complex listening environments. / 2031-01-02

Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

No description available.

Otosclerosis is a common form of adult-onset hearing loss. It is a complex disease that most likely involves multiple genetic and environmental factors. We know that a genetic component for otosclerosis exists because of the overwhelming ethnic bias and the fact that nearly half of patients report a family history. Many family linkage studies and candidate gene association studies have been performed; however, disease-causing mutations remain elusive. The disease is caused by abnormal bone remodeling in the otic capsule, which normally undergoes very little remodeling after development and ossification. This is in stark contrast to the rest of the skeleton, which undergoes bone turn over at a rate of nearly 10% per year. How the otic capsule remains in such a static state is under investigation, but initial studies suggest that bone remodeling inhibitors produced by the inner ear are responsible. In patients with otosclerosis it is uncertain what events trigger this abnormal bone remodeling. To determine its cause, many environmental and genetic factors have been entertained. However, even with decades of research on the disease, we still know little about its etiology. My thesis work has aimed to identify molecular and genetic contributors to the disease. To do this, I have performed a global gene expression analysis of otosclerotic tissue to determine what genes are differentially expressed in the disease compared to control tissue. This study has identified a number of differentially expressed genes and pathways potentially involved in the disease. To compliment this work, I also performed a genome-wide association study, in collaboration with a group from Belgium. Together we identified an unexpected gene, RELN, as being associated with otosclerosis in six different European populations. This marks the first successful genome-wide association study for a hearing impairment. I have also identified rare variants in several candidate genes in the TGF-â superfamily in otosclerosis patients. Further analysis of these variants has identified a few that appear to alter protein function, giving us a glimpse of what they may be doing to cause disease. While we still cannot account for most of the heritability for otosclerosis, we have come a long way in identifying new candidates, in which future analysis will hopefully lead to a better understanding of the disease. In the long term, I hope this work will help provide better treatment options for patients with this disease.