Communication Sciences and Disorders Commons^™

Mouth Asymmetries During Infant Babbling: A Brain Lateralization Study, Cecilia Breazile

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Although babbling is both prevalent and important in the process of language development, it could be argued that we still do not understand the basic nature of babbling. To further our understanding of the nature of babbling we attempted to find evidence for brain lateralization typical of adult speech acts during early babbling. This study examined infant mouth asymmetries during babbling sequences in search of evidence that babbling is an inherently linguistic act as indicated by the lateralization of the brain. Previously recorded videos of 12 infants, all 9 months of age, were examined, 29 images were captured, and a …

Evidence-Based Practices In Selecting Standardized Assessments Of Child Language, Darielle Cooper

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

From the results of a survey given to 1,399 speech-language pathologists, 11 frequently used language assessment tools for preschool and school age children were selected to undergo a systematic review. The examiner’s manual of each assessment was examined to determine whether the test reported adequate psychometric properties and acceptable levels of diagnostic accuracy. Results indicated that all reviewed assessments met at least 60% of McCauley and Swisher’s (1984) psychometric criteria for evaluating norm-referenced tests. Six of the 11 assessments provided information on diagnostic accuracy in the examiner’s manual or in the literature. Four tests published acceptable levels of diagnostic accuracy, …

The Effects Of Narrative Elicitation Task On The Verb Morphological Patterns Of Younger Adolescents With And Without Specific Language Impairment, Megan T. Taliaferro

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Specific language impairment (SLI) is one of the most commonly occurring communication disorders (Castrogiovanni (2008)). SLI is an impairment in the language of children, adolescents and adults who show no other impairment such as mental, emotional or physical problems. Individuals with SLI demonstrate normal intelligence as shown by nonverbal Intelligence Quotient (IQ) scores; however, their language skills appear to be worse than their normally achieving (NA) peers. There has been an issue in identifying individuals with SLI. One factor contributing to the identification issues of SLI is the lack of a clinical marker. Although no clinical marker currently …

Does Vestibular Sensory Stimulation, In The Form Of Slow, Linear Swinging, Change The Modes Of Communication Among Children With Autism?, Katherine A. Gallaher

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The purpose of this study was to determine if children with autism receiving vestibular sensory stimulation (VSS) in the form of slow, linear swinging, had any change or progression in their modes of communication when compared to children with autism who received a free-play period (nVSS) during speech-language (SL) therapy. Over the course of therapy, each child’s response mode was recorded as a gesture, vocalization, gesture + vocalization, or an utterance, and each mode was a dependent variable (DV) in this study. Participants who received VSS treatment were expected to have a greater improvement on the progression of modes, such …

Quality Of Life Indices In Brain Injury: A Pilot Investigation, Lauren Kristine Maher

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This IRB approved study explores the scope of acquired brain injury (ABI) as it affects an individual’s perceived quality of life and how measurement informs clinical decisions. Quality of life is an important consideration for persons with ABI, since research indicates acquired brain injury can lead to personality changes such as depression, anxiety, and aggression not previously exhibited (Greve et al., 2001). When treating persons with ABI, healthcare professionals must be able to reliably measure and track their client’s perceived quality of life. This pilot study included 35 clients receiving community-based intervention at Crossroads to Brain Injury Recovery, Inc. (Crossroads) …

Pre-Pulse Inhibition Assessment Of Sound Localization In Mice, Kathryn C. Brooks

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The purpose of my Honors Research Project was to assist Dr. Megan

Klingenberg in completing part of the research in her final dissertation project. Dr.

Klingenberg’s project was based off of a study done by Allen and Ison in 2010.

This study tested the auditory spatial acuity of mice using pre-pulse inhibition of

the startle reflex as the response for detecting the sound stimulus. The goal of

Dr. Klingenberg’s AuD project was “to explore the methodological, functional, and

genetic influences on sound localization using pre-pulse inhibition of the acoustic

startle response in mice”. Dr. Klingenberg’s project was broken into three …

Binaural Listening In Young And Middle-Aged Adults: Interaural Phase Differences And Speech-In-Noise Measures, Caitlin Cotter

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Difficulty understanding speech in the presence of noise is a common complaint of middle-aged and older adults with and without hearing loss. There is an incomplete picture of what contributes to difficulties understanding speech-in-noise in adults who have normal audiograms. As humans we listen binaurally, so declines in binaural processing may contribute to speech-in-noise difficulties. We examined the effects of age on the upper frequency limit of interaural phase difference (IPD) detection and IPD detection at fixed frequencies. We also examined a speech-in-noise measure of spatial separation across young and middle-aged, normal-hearing individuals.

Participants were young (n=12) and middle-aged (n=8) …

Speech Function In Persons With Parkinson's Disease: Effects Of Environment, Task And Treatment, Carrie E. Rountrey

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a degenerative neurological disease affecting aspects of movement, including speech. Persons with PD are reported to have better speech functioning in the clinical setting than in the home setting, but this has not been quantified. New methodologies in ambulatory measures of speech are emerging that allow investigation of non-clinical settings.

The following questions are addressed: Is speech different between environments in PD and in healthy controls? Can clinical tasks predict speech behaviors in the home? Is treatment proven effective by measures in the home? What can we glean from methods of measurement of speech function in …

Hyolaryngeal Kinematics And Swallow Patterning In Normal And Disordered Swallowing, Seng Mun Wong

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Hyoid and laryngeal movements contribute to laryngeal vestibule closure and upper esophageal sphincter (UES) opening for safe swallowing. However, the extent of movement required for achieving these goals, and the interaction between hyoid and laryngeal movements during swallowing are unknown. Despite impairment in vestibule closure and UES opening, patients with dysphagia may exhibit reduced, increased or similar hyolaryngeal displacements as healthy individuals. This limits the delineation between normal and disordered swallowing. We investigated whether anatomical differences in hyolaryngeal positions and the extent of laryngeal vestibule opening at rest would better predict hyolaryngeal displacements and the extent of vestibule closure during …

Effects Of Training And Lung Volume Levels On Voice Onset Control And Cortical Activation In Singers, Nicholas A. Barone

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Singers need to counteract respiratory elastic recoil at high and low lung volume levels (LVLs) to maintain consistent airflow and pressure while singing. Professionally trained singers modify their vocal and respiratory systems creating a physiologically stable and perceptually pleasing voice quality at varying LVLs. In manuscript 1, we compared non-singers and singers on the initiation of a voiceless plosive followed by a vowel at low (30% vital capacity, VC), intermediate (50%VC), and high (80%VC) LVLs. In manuscript 2, we examined how vocal students (singers in manuscript 1) learn to control their voice onset at varying LVLs before and after a …

Functional Recovery: A Mixed Methods Study Of The Specific Variables Within A Post-Hospital Inter-Disciplinary Brain Injury Rehabilitation - Residential Program, Victoria Harding

Dissertations, 2014-2019

The mixed methods explanatory design study examined specific constructs of Post Hospital Interdisciplinary Brain Injury Rehabilitation – Residential (PHIDBIR-R) programs that positively influenced gains in function. The investigation involved exploring the phenomenon of individuals’ experiences while participating in a PHIDBIR-R program as part of recovery from brain injury. The study’ primary purpose was to understand individuals who make the greatest gains in function while participating in these programs, as measured by the Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory-4 (MPAI-4) change scores from admission to discharge and what are the components of these programs that may contribute to individuals’ gains in function.

Data were …

The Effect Of Taste On Swallowing Function, Rachel Mulheren

Dissertations, 2014-2019

This study investigated the effects of taste on swallowing frequency and cortical activation in the swallowing network. The effects of salivary flow and taster status were also examined, along with genetic taster status. The effects of a 3ml bolus compared sour, sour with slow infusion, sweet, water, and water with infusion. Swallowing frequency was significantly higher 0-15 seconds after bolus delivery than 16-30 seconds. Swallowing frequency was higher in the sour conditions, whereas sweet and water did not differ. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy recordings measured changes in blood oxygenation (HbO) in the right and left hemispheres in the premotor, S1 and …

The Effect Of Auditory Fatigue On Reaction Time In Normal Hearing Listeners, Beth I. Hulvey

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Hearing impaired individuals often report feeling fatigue at the end of the day. These individuals are forced to exert more cognitive effort throughout the day as they strain to understand speech in an ever-changing auditory environment through an impaired/degraded auditory system (Rabbitt, 1991). Today’s digital hearing aids attempt to increase audibility and relieve cognitive strain through advanced signal processing techniques such as digital noise reduction (DNR). Recent research regarding noise and its effects on auditory fatigue in hearing impaired listeners suggests that DNR may reduce the effects of auditory fatigue (Sarampalis et al, 2009). The overarching goal of a future …

Pre-Pulse Inhibition Assessment Of Sound Localization In Mice: Methodological, Functional, And Genetic Considerations, Megan Klingenberg

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Sound localization is an important aspect of normal hearing. The Eph/ephin family of signaling proteins, studied here, is known to guide the formation of central auditory connections in early development, particularly topographic inputs from the lateral superior olive (LSO) to the inferior colliculus (IC). Processing in the LSO and its influences on the IC are known to be heavily involved in sound localization tasks. One way to study sound localization in mice is through pre-pulse inhibition (PPI). PPI is the phenomenon by which a weak prestimulus inhibits the response to a subsequent startle stimulus. In studying sound localization, the prestimulus …

Examining Monaural And Binaural Measures Of Phase-Locking As A Function Of Age, Larissa M. Heckler

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Understanding speech in the presence of background noise is a common complaint of middle-aged and older listeners with clinically normal audiograms. There is great interest in understanding how age-related changes in auditory physiology make it harder for older adults to understand speech in difficult listening situations, compared to young listeners. It was recently reported that middle-aged and older normal-hearing listeners showed frequency-dependent, age-related declines in the behavioral and physiological detection of interaural phase differences (Grose & Mamo, 2010; Ross et al, 2007). There is also evidence of an age-related, frequency-dependent decline in the frequency-following response (FFR) (Clinard et al., 2010), …

Training To Avoid Distractions, Cara E. Sanderson

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Introduction: Auditory training has been extensively studied and applied to training software that is currently available for children with attention, hearing, or speech/language difficulties. The extent to which training generalizes, or transfers to an untrained task, is of great theoretical value. To our knowledge, there has not been a study that examines transference to a non-sensory masking task.

Methods: 16 adults without ADHD were trained in a contralateral masking task over the course of two days, with 900 trials per day. False alarm rates, thresholds, and reaction times were measured. Pre- and post-tests of contralateral and informational masking were conducted …

Effect Of Adaptive Frequency Lowering On Phoneme Identification And Sound Quality Of Music In Hearing-Impaired Listeners, Kaitlyn A. Sabri

Dissertations, 2014-2019

The most common type and configuration of hearing loss seen in clinics is high frequency sensorineural hearing loss. High-frequency hearing losses can lead to difficulties understanding speech in noise. Traditional amplification can aid in audibility of high-frequency information; however, its success is limited due to acoustic feedback, output limitations of the hearing aids, and loudness discomfort (Bohnert, Nyffeler, & Keilmann, 2010, Turner & Cummings, 1999). Cochlear dead regions further hinder the success of traditional hearing aids, as speech recognition may not improve with increased audibility (Turner & Cummings, 1999). Frequency-lowering algorithms, developed by four major hearing aid manufacturers, attempt to …

Effects Of Eph/Ephrin Mutations On Pre Pulse Inhibition In Mice, Andrea Marie Liuzzo

Dissertations, 2014-2019

The acoustic startle response (ASR) is a reliable reflexive behavioral response in mammals elicited by an unexpected intense acoustic startle eliciting stimulus (SES). It is mediated by a sub-cortical pathway that includes the inferior colliculus (IC). The ASR amplitude can be measured with an accelerometer beneath the subject attached to the cage, and can be decreased in amplitude by presenting a less intense, non-startling stimulus 20-300 ms before the SES. This reflexive decrement in ASR is called pre pulse inhibition (PPI) and indicates that the relatively soft pre pulse was heard. Murine species have been used to study this response …

Effects Of Auditory And Visual Distracters On Acceptable Background Noise Level In Hearing-Impaired Listeners, Elizabeth A. Ripley

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Acceptable Noise Level (ANL), is an established procedure for determining the amount of background noise a listener is willing to accept while listening to speech. ANL is established by having the listener select most amount of background noise they are willing to accept while listening to a speech stimulus presented at their most comfortable listening level (MCL). While ANLs have been established as good predictors of hearing aid use, little is known on how hearing aid users accept background noise while engaged in cognitively demanding tasks. Previous research in normal hearing listeners has demonstrated that listeners will allow the most …

The Neural Representation And Behavioral Detection Of Frequency Modulation, Daniel Elliott Shearer

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Understanding a speech signal is reliant on the ability of the auditory system to accurately encode rapidly changing spectral and temporal cues over time. Evidence from behavioral studies in humans suggests that relatively poor temporal fine structure (TFS) encoding ability is correlated with poorer performance on speech understanding tasks in quiet and in noise. Electroencephalography, including measurement of the frequency-following response, has been used to assess the human central auditory nervous system’s ability to encode temporal patterns in steady-state and dynamic tonal stimuli and short syllables. To date, the FFR has been used to investigate the accuracy of phase-locked auditory …

The Effects Of Various Modes Of Feedback On Preferred Ipod Listening Levels, Justine A. Mcdermott

Dissertations, 2014-2019

The current study was conducted in an effort to promote safe listening habits of personal media player device users. Devices such as the iPod are known to have high output capacities well within the range of potentially hazardous sound levels, thus there is a concern that personal listening may pose a risk to hearing. Intuitive and real-time feedback representing the risk of hearing damage based on selected Preferred Listening Levels (PLLs) was provided to subjects they listened to an iPod. Objective: To provide listeners with tools to judge ‘what is too loud’ (and potentially damaging to hearing) so that they …

The Effect Of Early Hearing Loss On Bobwhites’ Responses To Pure Tones: A Possible Animal Model Of Prelingual Deafness, Bethany Leanne Magee

Dissertations, 2014-2019

This study aimed to look at the behavioral responses of Bobwhite quail to pure tone stimuli by measuring peep suppression. We also considered if a duration of early hearing loss would affect Bobwhite’s responsiveness to the tones. Bobwhites were tested individually at all different ages post hatch day. The pure tones were presented at several different intensity levels and peep suppression was calculated as a measure of responsiveness to the stimuli. Mock trials were conducted as a measure of control to determine the birds’ typical peep rate. Some of the Bobwhite quail were injected with gentamicin 0-1 post-hatch day in …

The Acute Effects Of Gentamycin Ototoxicity On Bobwhite Quail Basilar Papilla And Auditory Brainstem Responses, Kristie Wilson

Dissertations, 2014-2019

The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a single dose of gentamycin in elevating Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) thresholds and causing inner ear hair cell loss or damage. A total of twenty-two Bobwhite quail were used (n=7 control, n=15 experimental); experimental group quail were injected with a 200 mg/kg dose of gentamycin within 24 hours of hatch (P0). Three to four days post-hatch or injection the quail underwent ABR testing. Thresholds were measured using a 1,000 Hz, 2,000 Hz, and 4,000 Hz tone pip and a click beginning at 90 dB nominalSPL. Resulting waveforms were analyzed using MATLAB …

Ultrasonic Vocalizations In Eph/Ephrin Mutant Mice, Bryna Rickenbach-Cline

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Purpose: Murine mammals, more commonly known as mice, emit ultrasonic vocalizations or “yelps” to communicate. It has been found that adult mice use these vocalizations to communicate with each other, and infant mice utilize ultrasonic vocalizations to communicate with their mother. It is known that a relationship exists between hearing ability and vocalization (Bass-Ringdahl, 2010). This study aims to record yelps/ vocalizations of four strains of mouse pups to determine how the development of hearing relates to the vocalizations that are emitted. It is thought that mice with compromised genes that encode for signaling proteins that are essential to the …

The Effects Of Musical Training On Perception And Neural Representation Of Temporal Fine Structure, Verleyne Andrews-Rodgers

Dissertations, 2014-2019

One of the most common complaints of persons with sensorineural hearing loss is difficulty hearing in background noise. Temporal fine structure (TFS) is one of the factors that contributes to understanding speech in the presence of background noise. TFS refers to the periodic information in speech which helps us to identify which speech sound we are listening to. TFS is also negatively affected by hearing loss, as well as age. In a quest to discover how TFS processing and thus speech-in-noise understanding can be improved, this study examined the effects of musical training on behavioral and physiological measures of temporal …

Quantifying Head Acceleration During Vestibular Rehabilitation, Anne Hogan

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Dizziness can often be a serious and confounding condition that ranges in severity from annoying to debilitating and affects many people. The most common and effective treatment for persistent dizziness is vestibular rehabilitation therapy, which falls into three categories: adaptation, sensory substitution, and habituation. While more is known about adaptation and sensory substitution, questions remain regarding the exact mechanisms of recovery for habituation. Precisely, the optimal stimulation to the vestibular system, as measured in intensity of head accelerations, is unknown for habituation treatment. In this dissertation are drafts of two manuscripts. The first explores the average intensity of linear and …

The Effects Of Auditory And Visual Distracters On The Toleration Of Background Noise In Normal Hearing Listeners, Lauren Shastany

Dissertations, 2014-2019

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of auditory and visual cognitive loads on the preferred background noise levels in normal-hearing listeners. This study investigated the preferable background noise levels (primary task) when normal hearing listeners were presented with auditory and/or visual cognitive distractions (secondary task). It was hypothesized that normal hearing listeners’ preferable background noise level would decrease in the presence of either distracter and that the synergistic effect of the two distracters would result in even lower preferable background noise level. Preferable background noise levels were measured on 24 normal-hearing listeners under four conditions. …

Perceived Occlusion And Comfort In Receiver-In-The-Ear Hearing Aids, Sara A. Conrad

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Purpose: In this study participants rated self-perceived occlusion and physical comfort for receiver-in-the-ear (RITE) hearing aids with different sizes of standard domes. Perceived occlusion was rated across listening and own voice conditions. Method: Twenty-one older adults with hearing impairment were fitted with bilateral RITE hearing aids and tested with three dome size conditions: open, plus, and power domes, and one control condition: the participants' own aids. Participants ranked self-perceived occlusion across the dome size conditions as well as across listening and own voice conditions, and also ranked level of physical comfort across dome sizes. Results: Self-perceived occlusion increased as dome …

Headturn Preference Of 10-Month Infants For Familiar And Unfamiliar Signs, Steven Thomas Kulsar

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Most deaf babies born in the United States are born into hearing families and show a developmental lag in spoken language acquisition, reading, writing, and social development when compared to deaf babies of deaf parents or hearing babies of hearing parents, due to limited language access. A modified headturn paradigm has been devised to assess infant preference to various familiar and unfamiliar ASL stimuli, to determine parallels between auditory-spoken and visual-spatial languages. If visual perception of first signs parallels auditory perception of first words, we would expect infants exposed to ASL as their native language to show a preference for …

A Comparison Of Vibrotactile And Air Puff Stimulation For Inducing Swallowing, Kathryn Diane White

Dissertations, 2014-2019

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of two types of non-invasive, sensory stimulation on increasing the rate of swallowing and for inducing cortical activity associated with swallowing. The types of stimulation investigated were vibrotactile stimulation to the external throat area surrounding the laryngeal tissues and oral air puff stimulation to the anterior faucial pillars. A functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) system measured relative changes in the concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO) in cortical sensorimotor regions as an indirect measure of brain activity. The experiment included 16 healthy adult participants between the ages of 28 and 60 …