AUDITORY PROCESSING ABNORMALITIES IN NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

The problem of auditory processing dysfunction has been widely identified in a great number of neurological diseases, but the mechanisms of its appearance and impact are only weakly understood.  The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the abnormalities in processing auditory information in individuals with the neurological conditions, namely epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and traumatic brain injury.  Fully auditory processing examinations were conducted on a group of 150 patients who were grouped in accordance with their diagnosis and severity of their symptoms. These were auditory brainstem response (ABR), speech-in-noise, and dichotic listening.  The findings showed significant errors in auditory discrimination, temporal processing and binaural integration in all the groups of patients, and more serious problems were detected in those with significant cognitive disability.  Correlation studies demonstrated that there was a strong correlation between auditory processing lesions and cognitive decline in individuals with multiple sclerosis and traumatic brain lesions.  Moreover, patients who had unusual latencies of ABR were also identified in a group of patients, with these latencies being found to correlate with the extent of structural brain damage.  These findings highlight the need to identify and provide specialised auditory rehabilitation to patients with the neurological illness at the earlier stage so that they can improve their quality of life and cognitive functions.