quantitative-assessment-cortical-auditory-tactile-processing-children

Quantitative Assessment of Cortical Auditory-tactile Processing in Children with Disabilities

Objective and easy measurement of sensory processing is extremely difficult in nonverbal or vulnerable pediatric patients. We developed a new methodology ...

Vanderbilt University

Periventricular hemorrhagic infarction (PVHI) is a major contributing factor to poor neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm infants. We hypothesized that surviving infants with unilateral PVHI would have more favorable outcomes than those with bilateral PVHI.

Neurodevelopmental outcome of infants with unilateral or bilateral periventricular hemorrhagic infarction.

Neuroprotection for premature infants?: another perspective on caffeine.

The study examined the effect of gestational (GA) and postnatal (PNA) age on speech sound perception in infants. Auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in response to speech sounds (syllables) in 50 infant NICU patients (born at 24-40 weeks gestation) prior to discharge. Efficiency of speech perception was quantified as absolute difference in mean amplitudes of ERPs in response to vowel (/a/-/u/) and consonant (/b/-/g/, /d/-/g/) contrasts within 150-250, 250-400, 400-700 ms after stimulus onset. Results indicated that both GA and PNA affected speech sound processing. These effects were more pronounced for consonant than vowel contrasts. Increasing PNA was associated with greater sound discrimination in infants born at or after 30 weeks GA, while minimal PNA-related changes were observed for infants with GA less than 30 weeks. Our findings suggest that a certain level of brain maturity at birth is necessary to benefit from postnatal experience in the first 4 months of life, and both gestational and postnatal ages need to be considered when evaluating infant brain responses.

Influence of gestational age and postnatal age on speech sound processing in NICU infants.

The brain's response to somatosensory stimuli is essential to experience-driven learning in children. It was hypothesized that advances in event-related potential technology could quantify the response to touch in somatosensory cortices and characterize the responses of hemiparetic children. In this prospective study of 8 children (5-8 years old) with hemiparetic cerebral palsy, both event-related potential responses to sham or air puff trials and standard functional assessments were used. Event-related potential technology consistently measured signals reflecting activity in the primary and secondary somatosensory cortices as well as complex cognitive processing of touch. Participants showed typical early responses but less efficient perceptual processes. Significant differences between affected and unaffected extremities correlated with sensorimotor testing, stereognosis, and 2-point discrimination (r > 0.800 and P = .001 for all). For the first time, a novel event-related potential paradigm shows that hemiparetic children have slower and less efficient tactile cortical perception in their affected extremities.

Novel assessment of cortical response to somatosensory stimuli in children with hemiparetic cerebral palsy.

Manganese neurotoxicity may underlie the association between early life iron deficiency and impaired spatial cognition in neonatal piglets.

Neurodevelopmental delay in childhood is common in infants born preterm, but is difficult to predict before infants leave the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). We hypothesized that event-related potential (ERP) methodology characterizing the cortical differentiation of speech sounds in hospitalized infants would predict cognitive and language outcomes during early childhood.

Cortical speech sound differentiation in the neonatal intensive care unit predicts cognitive and language development in the first 2 years of life.

Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) patients are at high risk for developmental disabilities such as cerebral palsy (CP). Early identification of CP is essential to effective rehabilitation, but diagnosis is often delayed, especially in preterm infants. We hypothesized that through the longitudinal evaluation of motor trajectories in the NICU follow-up clinic, we could distinguish infants who develop CP by 3 years of age.

Early prediction of cerebral palsy after neonatal intensive care using motor development trajectories in infancy.

Neurodevelopmental delays in intensive care neonates are common but difficult to predict. In children, hemisphere differences in cortical processing of speech are predictive of cognitive performance. We hypothesized that hemisphere differences in auditory event-related potentials in intensive care neonates are predictive of neurodevelopment in infancy, even in those born preterm. Event-related potentials to speech sounds were prospectively recorded in 57 infants (gestational age 24-40 weeks) prior to discharge. The Developmental Assessment of Young Children was performed at 6 and 12 months. Hemisphere differences in mean amplitudes increased with postnatal age (P < .01) but not with gestational age. Greater hemisphere differences were associated with improved communication and cognitive scores at 6 and 12 months, but decreased in significance at 12 months after adjusting for socioeconomic and clinical factors. Auditory cortical responses can be used in intensive care neonates to help identify infants at higher risk for delays in infancy.

Hemisphere Differences in Speech-Sound Event-Related Potentials in Intensive Care Neonates: Associations and Predictive Value for Development in Infancy.

Article	Year
Neurodevelopmental outcome of infants with unilateral or bilateral periventricular hemorrhagic infarction. Pediatrics\| PubMed ID: 19948617	2009
Neuroprotection for premature infants?: another perspective on caffeine. JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association\| PubMed ID: 22253397	2012
Influence of gestational age and postnatal age on speech sound processing in NICU infants. Psychophysiology\| PubMed ID: 22332725	2012
Novel assessment of cortical response to somatosensory stimuli in children with hemiparetic cerebral palsy. Journal of child neurology\| PubMed ID: 22378658	2012
Manganese neurotoxicity may underlie the association between early life iron deficiency and impaired spatial cognition in neonatal piglets. The Journal of nutrition\| PubMed ID: 23515251	2013
Cortical speech sound differentiation in the neonatal intensive care unit predicts cognitive and language development in the first 2 years of life. Developmental medicine and child neurology\| PubMed ID: 23799953	2013
Early prediction of cerebral palsy after neonatal intensive care using motor development trajectories in infancy. Early human development\| PubMed ID: 23856349	2013
Hemisphere Differences in Speech-Sound Event-Related Potentials in Intensive Care Neonates: Associations and Predictive Value for Development in Infancy. Journal of child neurology\| PubMed ID: 23864588	2013

Nathalie L. Maitre

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