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M Ptok

Publications and source records attributed to M Ptok.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2005

[Subjective assessment of auditory processing deficits and perceptual performance in children].

BACKGROUND: Auditory processing disorders (APD) result from dysfunctions in processes dedicated to audition. They effect the processing of information in the auditory modality. Besides several audiometric procedures, the suggestion has been made to use a newly developed questionnaire to assess APD; however, data on the reliability and validity of this psychometric tool are still lacking. METHODS: In a retrospective analysis, questionnaire data from 483 children referred to us because of suspected APD were examined and a factorial analysis was performed. RESULTS: Only one factor could be extracted. However, this did not explain much of the variance. DISCUSSION: According to our results, APD can be assumed to be a one dimensional construct. In addition, noise hypersensitivity may be separable from other APD complaints.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

[Impairment of speech and communication skills in dementia].

Dementia results not only in the impairment of cognitive-mnestic skills, but also of communication skills. Symptoms include difficulties in finding words and limited expression. The diagnosis of speech and language pathologies in dementia is problematic because there are no standard examination methods. Furthermore, it is difficult to distinguish dementia from semantic dementia, Broca's aphasia and chronic progressive aphasia.

Dementia↗
PubMed2005

[Frequency specific auditory evoked responses. Experiments on stimulus polarity, sweep frequency, stimulus duration, notched-noise masking level, and threshold estimation in volunteers with normal hearing].

Auditory evoked responses to tone-pips in notched-noise provide frequency specific estimations of thresholds. Most often, test frequencies are 0.5-4 kHz. Thresholds are expected to match with a high degree to behavioral thresholds. However, only few studies are available containing data on stimulus and averaging parameters, especially at a test frequency of 0.25 kHz. In order to find "optimal" parameters for a widely used device (Nicolet Spirit Version 1.6), we designed five experiments on stimulus polarity (Exp.I), sweep frequency (Exp.II), stimulus duration (Exp.III), notched noise level (Exp.IV), and threshold estimation (Exp.V). The experiments also included a low test frequency of 0.25 kHz. These experiments were applied to 29 healthy volunteers (n=29, aged 20-41 years with normal hearing and no history of illness of the ear). We found that alternating stimulus polarity and a sweep frequency of 43.5/s evoked responses that were highest with respect to amplitudes (0.2-0.4 mV) and correlations (0.49-0.91). A novel finding of the study was that the highest amplitudes and correlations could be achieved if stimulus durations and notched-noise-levels were specifically adjusted to the test frequencies (stimulus durations 0.25 kHz: 4 ms, 0.5 Hz: 2 ms, 1-4 kHz: 1 ms, notched-noise-levels 0.25-0.5 Hz: +10 dB, 1-4 kHz: +/-0 dB). Deviations from behavioral thresholds did not exceed +/-5 dB in 93% of the measures. The results indicate that frequency specific auditory evoked responses provide reliable threshold estimations. Future experiments are required to confirm the threshold deviations for hard of hearing individuals.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2005

[The effects of recurrent otitis media with effusion on speech development].

Otitis media with effusion (OME) may have adverse effects on children's cognitive, language, speech and psychosocial development. This has been demonstrated using several lines of research, the results of which, however, are not unequivocal. The question of how OME can interact with language, speech and cognitive development is also a subject of debate. According to the acoustic-phonetic theory, reduced perceptual ability during episodes of OME results in a degraded representation of subphonemic features of speech sounds, leading to speech delay. The mediated theory holds that fluctuant hearing loss endangers diffuse cognitive-linguistic effects, affecting speech perception and production.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

[Voice exercise therapy versus electrostimulation therapy in patients with unilateral vocal fold paralysis].

BACKGROUND: Several behavioural voice treatment procedures have been suggested for unilateral vocal fold paresis. However, data regarding their effectiveness and efficiency are sparse. Here we compare the outcome of traditional voice treatment versus electrostimulation voice exercise. METHODS: A total of 24 patients participated voluntarily in a prospective randomised trial. Vocal fold irregularity and maximum phonation time were used as dependent variables. RESULTS: Statistical analysis indicated slight though not significant differences favouring electrostimulation supported vocal exercises. DISCUSSION: Further studies are needed to fully explore the benefits and effectiveness of the various treatment procedures. These studies should include subjective parameters (voice handicap) as well as efficacy parameters.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

[Pragmatic language impairment in children].

When a child's language development does not follow the normal developmental course for no known reasons specific language impairment (SLI) is diagnosed. In contrast, pragmatic language impairment (PLI) refers to children who experience significant difficulties with the use of language. Clinical accounts of PLI have suggested that unlike children with more typical SLI, children with PLI have adequate syntax and phonology and are often verbally fluent. However, they may exhibit a range of linguistic and communicative deficits such as comprehension deficits for connected speech, conversational inadequacies, poor turn-taking, atypical word choices, literal interpretation of figurative language, and poor topic maintenance. There also may be fundamental deficits in social cognition, such as appreciating the thoughts and feelings of others. PLI may be found in SLI children, children with learning disabilities, autism and traumatic brain injuries. Here we review aspects of pragmatic communication skills, the development of emotion recognition, and diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Otolaryngologists have to be aware of PLI in case children with communication problems are referred to them. This may enable a timely diagnosis and early intervention.

Child↗
PubMed2005

[Gender and phoneme discrimination ability].

BACKGROUND: Boys tend to acquire language skills later than girls. Furthermore, specific language impairment and dyslexia are more often diagnosed in males than in females indicating that efficiency of phonological processing may be gender dependent. Phoneme discrimination tests tap some phonological processing abilities. Here we raised the question if phoneme discrimination abilities in male preschool children are inferior to female's phoneme discrimination abilities thus indicating less efficient phonological processing in boys. METHODS: Participants were 161 preschool children. Phoneme discrimination was tested using minimal pair (MP) reproduction. MP were either real words or nonwords (logatoms) presented in duplets or triplets. Children were asked to repeat what they had heard (immediate serial recall task). Statistical analyses were performed using Mann-Whitney-U-tests. RESULTS: Neither a correlation was seen between gender and phoneme discrimination sum scores (i. e. all items) nor between gender and scores of each item block. DISCUSSION: Results indicate no difference between male and female children in regard to those phonological processes and representations being tapped by the test procedure employed here.

Child↗
PubMed2004

[Niikawa-Kuroki (Kabuki) syndrome and hearing impairment].

The Niikawa-Kuroki syndrome is a rare syndrome characterized by multiple congenital anomalies, mental retardation, postnatal growth deficiency, dermatoglyphic abnormalities and a characteristic facial appearance. More than 100 cases of the syndrome have been described in Europe. Here we report a 10 year old girl with this syndrome. Recurrent infections of the middle ear as well as delayed motor and speech development were present. The physiognomy since early infancy showed a flat profil, long palpebral fissures, long eyelashes, high arched eyebrows, missing lateral incisors and persistent fetal pads on the fingers. The patient was referred to us because of hearing impairment. Her parents also described a delayed motor development, mental retardation and a language impairment. Audiometry demonstrated a pantonal hearing loss. Since children affected by this syndrome may also have a severe hearing impairment early testing is mandatory.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗
PubMed2004

[Small deletion--large effect].

Velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS) or Shprintzen's syndrome leads to cleft palate (69%), heart defects (74%), and characteristic facial dysmorphies as well as learning difficulties (70-90%). There is phenotypic overlap with DiGeorge syndrome (DGA). In 1992, it was shown that patients with VCFS had a partial 22q11 monosomy. The site and size of the deletion in many VCFS patients do not differ from patients with DGS. For the otolaryngologist, it is important to check for cardiac defects if the characteristic middle ear effects and possibly submucosal cleft palate are present. If a combination of these exist, it is advisable to carry out a genetic examination of the child in order to determine whether VCFS is present or not. This is the only way of providing an early diagnosis of this syndrome.

Child↗
PubMed2004

[Late auditory potentials (NC-ERP) in children with symptoms of auditory processing and perception disorder. With and without attention deficit disorder].

BACKGROUND: Auditory processing disorders (APD) result from dysfunctions of processes dedicated to audition and affect processing of information in the auditory modality. Children with APD exhibit symptoms similar to those with attention deficit disorders (ADHD). With regard to therapeutic strategies it seems mandatory to employ diagnostic procedures able to differentiate between APD and ADHD. Recently it was found that auditory evoked neutral condition event-related potentials (NC-ERP) correlate with results from psychoacoustic measures suitable to unveil dysfunctions of auditory processing, thus confirming APD. Here we investigated whether NC-ERP may be used as a tool to differentiate between APD and ADHD. METHODS: In a retrospective analysis, NC-ERP data from 99 children with (+ADHD) and 43 without ADHD symptoms (-ADHD) were examined. All patients suffered from symptoms consistent with information processing deficits in the auditory modality. Analysis of variance was applied. RESULTS: +ADHD children and -ADHD children did not show a significantly different distribution pattern of pathological NC-ERP. DISCUSSION: Since the probability of pathological NC-ERP is equally distributed in children with or without ADHD, all of whom suffered from auditory processing deficits, it seems fair to conclude that NC-ERP are not suitable to differentiate between APD and ADHD. This may be due to methodological limitations. Alternatively, APD and ADHD may indeed be overlapping entities with a common yet unidentified origin.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

[Age dependent maturation of NC-ERP].

BACKGROUND: Neutral condition event related potentials (NC-ERP) are not suitable for differentiating between children suffering from auditory processing disorders (APD) alone and APD-children with attention deficit disorder. Other factors beside severity of APD may cause "pathological" NC-ERP. Here we raise the question of whether maturational factors may be responsible for disordered NC-ERP. METHODS: NC-ERP data from 142 APD children (range 5.4-17.2 years; mean 9.8 years) were analysed. Data were grouped according to age of children (I: <7.11 years n=34; II: 8.0-9.11 years n=46; III: 10.0-11.11 years n=39; IV: >12.0 years n=23). RESULTS: Pathological NC-ERP were found in 82.3% (group I), 56.6% (group II), 46.2% (group III) and 8.8% (group IV). Additional analyses confirmed no correlation with ADHD. DISCUSSION: Although there is a whole body of evidence that late auditory evoked potential may mature with age, it is not known if NC-ERP are also age dependent. Our results that NC-ERP mature with age are consistent with data for other late auditory evoked potentials. Since normative date of NC-ERP for different age groups are still lacking, NC-ERP results in children should be interpreted very cautiously.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

[Phonological loop and minimal pair discrimination in preschool children].

BACKGROUND: Phoneme discrimination tests based on presenting minimal pairs (MP) are frequently used to assess auditory processing. However test results may be influenced by other factors beside proper acoustic representation. Here we aim at determining whether working memory capacity (WMC) correlates with reproducing sets of MP. METHODS: WMC was evaluated by memory span for digits in 161 preschool children. MP were either real words or non-words (logatoms). Both real word-MP and logatom-MP were presented in duplets or triplets. Children were asked to repeat what they had heard. Spearman rank correlation was used to analyse the data. RESULTS: All four test item blocks showed a significant positive correlation with WMC (group values). Some children with poor WMC performed sufficiently on MP discrimination and vice versa. DISCUSSION: Besides confirming the phonological similarity effect, our data indicates a significant interdependence between different processes and phonological representations. This must be taken into account when using MP tests for evaluating "auditory processing" in the clinical routine. However, poor WMC is neither necessary nor obligatory for poor phoneme discrimination.

Auditory Perceptual Disorders↗
PubMed2004

[Speech perception. The basis for speech audiometry examinations].

Speech recognition measurements are widely used in clinical applications. Usually, either a speech recognition threshold is determined, being defined as the speech level or signal-to-noise ratio that enables the patient to understand 50% of the target words or target sentences. In other cases, a discrimination curve, describing speech recognition as function of the presentation level, is recorded. For the interpretation of these findings, it is important to keep in mind that speech perception is affected by many interacting sensory, perceptual and cognitive processes.Here, our current knowledge of these processes is outlined and theories that model speech perception in general are briefly reviewed.

Audiometry, Speech↗
PubMed2004

[Dementia-current knowledge and significance for ENT specialists].

Because of the growing number of elderly people, the incidence of dementia is increasing. This disease is a heavy burden for patients and their relatives, and has growing social and financial implications. The essential feature of dementia is an impairment in both short and long-term memory which is associated with an impairment in abstract thinking, impaired judgment, other disturbances of higher cortical functions, and/or personality change. Mild cognitive impairment represents a transitional state between the cognitive changes of normal aging and very early dementia, and is becoming increasingly recognized as a risk factor for Alzheimer's disorders. ENT specialists require knowledge on the basic problems in patients with (early) dementia and the most common diagnostic/therapeutic assessments. New therapeutic concepts such as cholinesterase inhibitors have been shown to interfere with the progression of Alzheimer's disease. In this report, the strategies in diagnostics and therapy which should be known by ENT specialists are presented.

Aged↗