Shen Zhiying, Lee Wai Hon, Eastman Jacob A, Frenzel Michaela R, Wiesman Alex I, Wilson Tony W, Walker Elizabeth A, McCreery Ryan W, Heinrichs-Graham Elizabeth
Cognitive and Sensory Imaging Laboratory, Institute for Human Neuroscience, Boys Town National Research Hospital, 14090 Mother Teresa Ln., Boys Town, NE 68010, United States.
Center for Pediatric Brain Health, Institute for Human Neuroscience, Boys Town National Research Hospital, 14090 Mother Teresa Ln., Boys Town, NE 68010, United States.
Cereb Cortex. 2025 Jul 1;35(7). doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhaf178.
Children who are hard-of-hearing (CHH) show greater variability in language and academic outcomes than children with normal hearing (CNH) throughout development, despite early detection and intervention. Nonetheless, our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying sensory and cognitive processing in CHH remains incomplete. The 40-Hz cortical auditory steady-state response (ASSR) has been widely used as a marker of auditory system integrity and shown to relate to cognition. Thus, the current study sought to determine the impact of mild-to-severe hearing loss on cortical ASSR dynamics. Thirty-seven participants ages 7-15 years old heard a broadband click train stimulus presented at 40 Hz binaurally during magnetoencephalography (MEG). Peak sources in the bilateral primary auditory cortices were identified, and the power envelope of the 40 Hz ASSR was extracted as a function of time and submitted to linear mixed modeling. We found a significant three-way interaction, suggesting that CHH exhibit altered ASSR dynamics between hemispheres compared to CNH. Moreover, hearing aid use was significantly correlated with left hemisphere ASSR power in CHH. These data underscore the importance of consistent auditory access in CHH and provide preliminary evidence that neuroimaging may hold promise in determining the mechanisms underlying behavioral variability in this population.
尽管早期进行了检测和干预，但在整个发育过程中，重听儿童（CHH）在语言和学业成绩方面的变异性比听力正常的儿童（CNH）更大。尽管如此，我们对CHH中感觉和认知处理的神经机制的理解仍然不完整。40赫兹皮层听觉稳态反应（ASSR）已被广泛用作听觉系统完整性的标志物，并被证明与认知有关。因此，本研究旨在确定轻至重度听力损失对皮层ASSR动态的影响。37名7至15岁的参与者在脑磁图（MEG）期间双耳听到以40赫兹呈现的宽带点击序列刺激。确定了双侧初级听觉皮层中的峰值源，并提取了40赫兹ASSR的功率包络作为时间的函数，并进行线性混合建模。我们发现了一个显著的三向交互作用，表明与CNH相比，CHH在半球之间表现出改变的ASSR动态。此外，助听器的使用与CHH的左半球ASSR功率显著相关。这些数据强调了CHH中持续听觉接入的重要性，并提供了初步证据表明神经成像在确定该人群行为变异性的潜在机制方面可能具有前景。
