Somatic memory and gain increase as preconditions for tinnitus: insights from congenital deafness.

Somatic memory and gain increase as preconditions for tinnitus: insights from congenital deafness.

Hear Res. 2015 Dec 21;

Authors: Eggermont JJ, Kral A

Abstract
Tinnitus is the conscious perception of sound heard in the absence of physical sound sources internal or external to the body. The characterization of tinnitus by its spectrum reflects the missing frequencies originally represented in the hearing loss, i.e., partially or completely deafferented, region. The tinnitus percept, despite a total hearing loss, may thus be dependent on the persisting existence of a somatic memory for the "lost" frequencies. Somatic memory in this context is the reference for phantom sensations attributed to missing sensory surfaces or parts thereof. This raises the question whether tinnitus can exist in congenital deafness, were somatic representations have not been formed. We review the development of tonotopic maps in altricial and precocial animals evidence for a lack of tinnitus in congenital deafness and the effects of cochlear implants on the formation of tonotopic maps in the congenitally deaf. The latter relates to the emergence of tinnitus in these subjects. The reviewed material is consistent with the hypothesis that tinnitus requires an established and actively used somatotopic map that leads to a corresponding somatic memory. The absence of such experience explains the absence of tinnitus in congenital bilateral and unilateral deafness.

PMID: 26719143 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Revision Transcervical Medialization Laryngoplasty for Unilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis.

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Revision Transcervical Medialization Laryngoplasty for Unilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis.

Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2015 Oct;153(4):593-8

Authors: Parker NP, Barbu AM, Hillman RE, Zeitels SM, Burns JA

Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To identify patterns of failure following transcervical medialization laryngoplasty for unilateral vocal fold paralysis and describe indications and revision techniques for optimal vocal outcomes.
STUDY DESIGN: Case series with chart review.
SETTING: Tertiary care center.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Thirty-nine consecutive patients between January 2005 and April 2014 undergoing transcervical revision of failed primary medialization laryngoplasty were identified. Demographics, etiology, stroboscopic assessment, and surgical techniques were recorded. Patient self-assessment using the Voice-Related Quality-of-Life (VRQOL) questionnaire and objective acoustic and aerodynamic assessments performed pre- and postoperatively were analyzed using t tests for paired comparisons.
RESULTS: Thirty-nine patients underwent 48 transcervical revision surgeries. Median follow-up was 14.6 months from time of final revision surgery. Indications included anterior glottic incompetence (38/48, 79%), posterior glottic incompetence (20/48, 42%), glottic overclosure (8/48, 17%), and/or decreased phonatory pliability (12/48, 25%). A combination of findings was present in 21 (44%) surgeries. Revision techniques included either anterior augmentation, arytenopexy, and cricothyroid subluxation (alone or in combination) in 46 of 48 (96%) patients or partial implant removal alone in 2 patients. Seven patients (18%) required multiple revisions. A complete set of voice parameters was available for 22 patients, and statistically significant improvements included VRQOL scores, fundamental frequency in females, jitter, noise-to-harmonic ratio, and mean airflow rate.
CONCLUSION: Patterns of failure in patients with suboptimal phonatory function after transcervical medialization laryngoplasty included persistent glottic incompetence, glottic overclosure, and decreased vocal fold pliability. Revision transcervical medialization surgery, guided by individualized consideration of vocal fold position and surface pliability, can improve phonatory outcomes.

PMID: 25968059 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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From the Editor: An Introduction to the JSLHR Supplement on Implementation Science.

From the Editor: An Introduction to the JSLHR Supplement on Implementation Science.

J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2015 Dec 1;58(6):1717-1718

Authors: Paul R

Abstract
Purpose: The JSLHR Supplement on Implementation Science is aimed at providing discussion and examples of research in implementation science, the study of methods designed to promote the incorporation of research findings into clinical practice.
Methods: Practitioners in the language science area were invited to submit articles that address their experience with various aspects of implementation science.
Results: Six articles from several research groups comprise this supplement.
Conclusions: Implementation science is an aspect of intervention research that merits consideration by communication disorders scientists. More extensive practice of implementation science will improve uptake of evidence-based practice in the clinical community.

PMID: 26720409 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Modality-specific processing precedes amodal linguistic processing during L2 sign language acquisition: A longitudinal study.

Modality-specific processing precedes amodal linguistic processing during L2 sign language acquisition: A longitudinal study.

Cortex. 2015 Dec 1;75:56-67

Authors: Williams JT, Darcy I, Newman SD

Abstract
The present study tracked activation pattern differences in response to sign language processing by late hearing second language learners of American Sign Language. Learners were scanned before the start of their language courses. They were scanned again after their first semester of instruction and their second, for a total of 10 months of instruction. The study aimed to characterize modality-specific to modality-general processing throughout the acquisition of sign language. Results indicated that before the acquisition of sign language, neural substrates related to modality-specific processing were present. After approximately 45 h of instruction, the learners transitioned into processing signs on a phonological basis (e.g., supramarginal gyrus, putamen). After one more semester of input, learners transitioned once more to a lexico-semantic processing stage (e.g., left inferior frontal gyrus) at which language control mechanisms (e.g., left caudate, cingulate gyrus) were activated. During these transitional steps right hemispheric recruitment was observed, with increasing left-lateralization, which is similar to other native signers and L2 learners of spoken language; however, specialization for sign language processing with activation in the inferior parietal lobule (i.e., angular gyrus), even for late learners, was observed. As such, the present study is the first to track L2 acquisition of sign language learners in order to characterize modality-independent and modality-specific mechanisms for bilingual language processing.

PMID: 26720258 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Comparisons of Longitudinal Trajectories of Social Competence: Parent Ratings of Children With Cochlear Implants Versus Hearing Peers.

Comparisons of Longitudinal Trajectories of Social Competence: Parent Ratings of Children With Cochlear Implants Versus Hearing Peers.

Otol Neurotol. 2015 Dec 18;

Authors: Hoffman MF, Cejas I, Quittner AL, CDaCI Investigative Team

Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the longitudinal effects of cochlear implantation (CIs) on young, deaf children's social competence over 5 years of implant use and compare their social skills to those of same-aged, hearing peers.
STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, longitudinal between- and within-subjects design, with assessments completed 3 times over 5 years.
SETTING: This study was conducted at 6 cochlear implant centers and two preschools that enrolled both CI and hearing children.
PATIENTS: Parents of 132 children with CIs and 67 age-matched hearing controls completed the study measures. Children were between 5 and 9 years of age at the first time point.
INTERVENTIONS: Cochlear implantation and speech-language therapy.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Three subscales were drawn from 2 standardized measures of behavioral and social functioning, the Behavioral Assessment Scale for Children (Adaptability, Social Skills) and the Social Skills Rating System (Social Skills). A latent social competence variable was created using multiple subscales, which was modeled over time.
RESULTS: Parent data indicated that children with CIs were delayed in comparison to their hearing peers on the social competence latent variable across all time points. Further, there was minimal evidence of "catch-up" growth over this 5-year period.
CONCLUSION: Children with CIs continued to experience delays in social competence after several years of implant use. Despite documented gains in oral language, deficits in social competence remained. To date, no interventions for children with CIs have targeted these social and behavioral skills. Thus, interventions that address the functioning of the "whole child" following cochlear implantation are needed.

PMID: 26719958 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Spatial Language and the Embedded Listener Model in Parents' Input to Children.

Spatial Language and the Embedded Listener Model in Parents' Input to Children.

Cogn Sci. 2015 Dec 31;

Authors: Ferrara K, Silva M, Wilson C, Landau B

Abstract
Language is a collaborative act: To communicate successfully, speakers must generate utterances that are not only semantically valid but also sensitive to the knowledge state of the listener. Such sensitivity could reflect the use of an "embedded listener model," where speakers choose utterances on the basis of an internal model of the listener's conceptual and linguistic knowledge. In this study, we ask whether parents' spatial descriptions incorporate an embedded listener model that reflects their children's understanding of spatial relations and spatial terms. Adults described the positions of targets in spatial arrays to their children or to the adult experimenter. Arrays were designed so that targets could not be identified unless spatial relationships within the array were encoded and described. Parents of 3-4-year-old children encoded relationships in ways that were well-matched to their children's level of spatial language. These encodings differed from those of the same relationships in speech to the adult experimenter (Experiment 1). In contrast, parents of individuals with severe spatial impairments (Williams syndrome) did not show clear evidence of sensitivity to their children's level of spatial language (Experiment 2). The results provide evidence for an embedded listener model in the domain of spatial language and indicate conditions under which the ability to model listener knowledge may be more challenging.

PMID: 26717804 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Feeling addressed! The role of body orientation and co-speech gesture in social communication.

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Feeling addressed! The role of body orientation and co-speech gesture in social communication.

Hum Brain Mapp. 2015 May;36(5):1925-36

Authors: Nagels A, Kircher T, Steines M, Straube B

Abstract
During face-to-face communication, body orientation and coverbal gestures influence how information is conveyed. The neural pathways underpinning the comprehension of such nonverbal social cues in everyday interaction are to some part still unknown. During fMRI data acquisition, 37 participants were presented with video clips showing an actor speaking short sentences. The actor produced speech-associated iconic gestures (IC) or no gestures (NG) while he was visible either from an egocentric (ego) or from an allocentric (allo) position. Participants were asked to indicate via button press whether they felt addressed or not. We found a significant interaction of body orientation and gesture in addressment evaluations, indicating that participants evaluated IC-ego conditions as most addressing. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and left fusiform gyrus were stronger activated for egocentric versus allocentric actor position in gesture context. Activation increase in the ACC for IC-ego>IC-allo further correlated positively with increased addressment ratings in the egocentric gesture condition. Gesture-related activation increase in the supplementary motor area, left inferior frontal gyrus and right insula correlated positively with gesture-related increase of addressment evaluations in the egocentric context. Results indicate that gesture use and body-orientation contribute to the feeling of being addressed and together influence neural processing in brain regions involved in motor simulation, empathy and mentalizing.

PMID: 25640962 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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