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DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1804518
Auditory Processing in Stuttering Children: Behavioral and Electrophysiological Assessments
Funding The authors declare that the present work was supported by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Brazil.
Abstract
Introduction Stuttering is a human communication disorder characterized by involuntary interruptions to speech flow. Electrophysiological tests and behavioral evaluations allow the neuroaudiological processes involved in stuttering to be investigated.
Objective To investigate group differences in the central auditory system using long-latency auditory evoked potentials, cognitive potentials, and behavioral assessments in children who stutter and compare them with fluent children.
Methods We assessed 18 children with stuttering and compared them with a control group of 18 children without speech or language impairment. All children were evaluated with pure tone and speech audiometry, acoustic immittance measures, brainstem auditory evoked potentials, long latency auditory evoked potentials, cognitive potentials, and behavioral tests of auditory processing – Random Gap Detection Test (RGDT), Dichotic Digit Test (DDT); Duration Pattern Test (DPT); Pediatric Speech Intelligibility (PSI); and Masking Level Difference (MLD). The Scale of Auditory Behaviors (SAB) questionnaire was also applied.
Results Children who stuttered had longer latencies of the P2 and P3 waves compared with the fluent group. There was no difference in P2 amplitudes, but there was a smaller P3 amplitude in children who stuttered, and they also showed significant alterations in the DDT and DPT. Furthermore, an association was found between increased P2 and P3 latency and SAB scores.
Conclusion The present study indicates that children who stutter tend to have decreased auditory ability in terms of central auditory processing, and this shows up psychophysically and on the SAB questionnaire.
Keywords
stuttering - event-related potentials - P300 - hearing - children - auditory evoked potentialsEthical Approval
The present research was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, under protocol number 41362. All participants and their guardians were informed about the procedures and signed a Free and Informed Consent Form.
Author's Contribution
Letícia Gregory was responsible for data collection, data analysis, and article writing. Milaine Dominici Sanfins, Rafael Fabiano Machado Rosa, and Piotr Henryk Skarzynski reviewed the article. Paulo Ricardo Gazzola Zen and Pricila Sleifer provided guidance and also reviewed the article.
Publication History
Received: 25 May 2024
Accepted: 02 January 2025
Article published online:
01 July 2025
© 2025. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
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Letícia Gregory, Milaine Dominici Sanfins, Piotr Henryk Skarzynski, Rafael Fabiano Machado Rosa, Paulo Ricardo Gazzola Zen, Pricila Sleifer. Auditory Processing in Stuttering Children: Behavioral and Electrophysiological Assessments. Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2025; 29: s00451804518.
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1804518
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