Does the Efferent Auditory System Have a Role in Children with Specific Learning Disabilities?

Özet

Objective: This study aimed to compare the baselinetransient otoacoustic emission (t-OAE) amplitudesand medial olivo-cochlear (MOC) efferent activity inchildren with specific learning disability (SLD) andchildren with normal development.Methods: The study was conducted in two groups.The patient group included 30 children aged 6 to 10years and diagnosed with SLD, and the control groupincluded 30 children in the same age range withoutSLD. The patient group included eight males and 22females, and the control group included 14 femalesand 16 males. t-OAE and contralateral suppressiontest were performed in both groups.Results: In the first t-OAE measurements, a statistically significant difference was observed between thepatient and the control group at frequencies of 1400,2000, 2800, and 4000 Hz, but no such difference wasobserved at 1000 Hz frequency. In the control group,significantly better emission amplitudes were observed. No differences were found at any frequencybetween the patient and the control groups after suppression. When the subjects in the two groups werecompared among themselves, there was a statisticallysignificant difference between the before and aftersuppression scores in the patient group except at 4000Hz. Likewise, an important difference was also observed in all frequencies in the control group.Conclusion: This study shows that suppression effects of t-OAE on children diagnosed with SLD andchildren with no SDL are not significantly different.