Skip to main content

Brainstem encoding of speech in normal-hearing individuals with absent acoustic reflex

Abstract

The acoustic reflex test is an important tool for identifying auditory disorder from the middle ear to the superior olivary complex. Absence of acoustic reflexes is the early sign of many auditory disorders. Absence of acoustic reflex with normal hearing sensitivity may be an early sign of auditory neuropathy with poor encoding of speech at initial stage. Speech auditory brainstem response was recorded with /da/ (40 ms) stimuli in two groups of patients. The control group contained normal-hearing participants with presence of acoustic reflex, whereas the experimental group contained normal-hearing participants with absent acoustic reflexes. The peak latency, amplitude, and F0 and F1 mean amplitude were analyzed in both groups. MANOVA showed no significant difference in any parameter between the control and experimental group. Results of the current study showed that absence of acoustic reflexes in normal-hearing patients without auditory complaint is not sufficient by itself to diagnose the existence of auditory neuropathy. This study also highlighted that normal-hearing patients with absence of acoustic reflex have similar brainstem encoding of speech as that of patients with acoustic reflex.

References

  1. Amaral IE, Carvallo R. Threshold and latency of acoustic reflex under effect of contralateral noise. Rev Soc Bras Fonoaudiol 2008; 13: 1–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Simmons FB. Perceptual theories of middle ear muscle function. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 1964; 73: 724–739.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Carmel PW, Starr A. Acoustic and nonacoustic factors modifying middle-ear muscle activity in waking cats. J Neurophysiol 1963; 26: 598–616.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Borg E, Zakrisson JE. Stapedius reflex and monaural masking. Acta Otolaryngol 1974; 78: 155–161.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Liberman MC, Guinan JJ Jr. Feedback control of the auditory periphery: anti-masking effects of middle ear muscles vs. olivocochlear efferents. J Commun Disord 1998; 31: 471–482.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Colletti V, Fiorino F, Verlatog, Carner M. Acoustic reflex selectivity: brain stem auditory evoked response and speech discrimination. In: Katz J. Auditory processing: a transdiciplinary view. 1992; 39–46.

  7. Wormald PJ, Rogers C, Gatehouse S. Speech discrimination in patients with Bell’s palsy and a paralysed stapedius muscle. Clin Otolaryngol Allied Sci 1995; 20: 59–62.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Carvallo RMM. O efeito do reflexo estapediano no controle da passagem da informação sonora. In: Schochat E. Processamento Auditivo — Série Atualidades em Fonoaudiologia. Lovise Ed.; 1996. 57–73.

  9. Metz O. Threshold of reflex contraction of muscles of middle ear and recruitment of loudness. AMA Arch Otolaryngol 1952; 55: 536–543.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Marotta RMB, Quintero SM, Marone SAM. Assessment of auditory processing by SSW test applied to individuals with normal hearing and absence of contralateral acoustic reflex. Rev Bras Otorrinolaringol 2002; 68: 254–261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Starr A. The neurology of auditory neuropathy. In: Sininger Y, Starr A. Auditory neuropathy: a new perspective on hearing disorders. San Diego: Singular 2001; 37–50.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Pinotti KS, Corraza MC, Alcaras PA. Electrphysiological evaluation of the auditory nerve in normal hearing patient with absence of staepedial reflex. Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2009; 13: 386–393.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Zeng FG, Oba S, Garde S, Sininger Y, Starr A. Temporal and speech processing deficits in auditory neuropathy. Neuroreport 1999; 10: 3429–3435.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Alvarenga KF, Amorim RB, Agostinho-Pesse RS, Costa OA, Nascimento LT, Bevilacqua MC. Speech perception and cortical auditory evoked potentials in cochlear implant users with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorders. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 2012; 76: 1332–1338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Rance G, McKay C, Grayden D. Perceptual characterization of children with auditory neuropathy. Ear Hear 2004; 25: 34–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Kraus N, Bradlow AR, Cheatham MA, Cunningham J, King CD, Koch DB, et al. Consequences of neural asynchrony: a case of auditory neuropathy. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol 2000; 1: 33–45.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Klatt D. Software for a cascade/parallel formant synthesizer. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1980; 67: 971–995.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Berlin CI, Hood LJ, Morlet T, Wilensky D, St John P, Montgomery E, Thibodaux M. Absent or elevated middle ear muscle reflexes in the presence of normal otoacoustic emissions: a universal finding in 136 cases of auditory neuropathy/dys-synchrony. J Am Acad Audiol 2005; 16:546–553.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Himanshu Kumar Sanju B.Sc.

Additional information

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

Rights and permissions

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.

To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mishra, R., Sanju, H.K. & Sahu, P. Brainstem encoding of speech in normal-hearing individuals with absent acoustic reflex. Egypt J Otolaryngol 31, 156–161 (2015). https://doi.org/10.4103/1012-5574.161599

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/1012-5574.161599

Keywords