Objective: Children diagnosed with auditory processing disorder (APD) show deficits in processing complex sounds that are associated with difficulties in higher-order language, learning, cognitive, and communicative functions. Amblyaudia (AMB) is a subcategory of APD characterized by abnormally large ear asymmetries in dichotic listening tasks.
Methods: Here, we examined frequency-specific neural oscillations and functional connectivity via high-density electroencephalography (EEG) in children with and without AMB during passive listening of nonspeech stimuli.
Results: Time-frequency maps of these "brain rhythms" revealed stronger phase-locked beta-gamma (~35 Hz) oscillations in AMB participants within bilateral auditory cortex for sounds presented to the right ear, suggesting a hypersynchronization and imbalance of auditory neural activity. Brain-behavior correlations revealed neural asymmetries in cortical responses predicted the larger than normal right-ear advantage seen in participants with AMB. Additionally, we found weaker functional connectivity in the AMB group from right to left auditory cortex, despite their stronger neural responses overall.
Conclusion: Our results reveal abnormally large auditory sensory encoding and an imbalance in communication between cerebral hemispheres (ipsi- to -contralateral signaling) in AMB.
Significance: These neurophysiological changes might lead to the functionally poorer behavioral capacity to integrate information between the two ears in children with AMB.
Keywords: Auditory processing disorders (APD); Event-related brain potentials (ERPs); Gamma/beta band response; Hemispheric asymmetries; Phase-locking; Time-frequency analysis.
Published by Elsevier B.V.