Summary Introduction:?Presently, it is admitted that individuals with reading and writing alterations may present delay in the development of listening skills, which may interfere in the learning process. The assessment of the listening skills can occur in a behavioral way, through central auditory processing (CAP) tests, or by electrophysiological assessment highlighting the long latency auditory evoked potentials (LLAEP). The use of the LLAEP as a means of complementary assessment of individuals with reading and writing alterations can become an important data both for further characterization of the alterations, as for the therapeutic guidance of this population. Objective:?Characterize the CAP and the LLAEP in children with reading and writing alterations. Method:?Research approved by the Institution's Ethic Commission under n? 305/10. The assessment of CAP and LLAEP was performed in 12 children aged between 8 and 12 years old (average of 10,6 years), with reading and writing alterations confirmed in specific evaluation. Results:?The most altered CAP skills were temporal ordination and figure-ground for linguistic sounds. There were found altered results in P300 and in MMN. Conclusion:?The individuals with reading and writing alterations performed below the expected on CAP tests. The MMN allowed a better characterization of the auditory function of this population. There was evidence of association between the CAP results and the alteration of the LLAEP.

OBJECTIVE:To characterize the findings of behavioral hearing assessment in HIV-positive individuals who received and did not receive antiretroviral treatment.METHODS:This research was a cross-sectional study. The participants were 45 HIV-positive individuals (18 not exposed and 27 exposed to antiretroviral treatment) and 30 control-group individuals. All subjects completed an audiological evaluation through pure-tone audiometry, speech audiometry, and high-frequency audiometry.RESULTS:The hearing thresholds obtained by pure-tone audiometry were different between groups. The group that had received antiretroviral treatment had higher thresholds for the frequencies ranging from 250 to 3000 Hz compared with the control group and the group not exposed to treatment. In the range of frequencies from 4000 through 8000 Hz, the HIV-positive groups presented with higher thresholds than did the control group. The hearing thresholds determined by high-frequency audiometry were different between groups, with higher thresholds in the HIV-positive groups.CONCLUSION:HIV-positive individuals presented poorer results in pure-tone and high-frequency audiometry, suggesting impairment of the peripheral auditory pathway. Individuals who received antiretroviral treatment presented poorer results on both tests compared with individuals not exposed to antiretroviral treatment.

autistic individuals present altered BAEP and P300, suggesting impairment in the brainstem auditory pathway and cortical/subcortical areas.

It was observed that the systemic arterial hypertension group showed the greatest decrease in auditory thresholds in the studied segment when compared to the other groups, suggesting that among the three studied conditions, hypertension seems to have the greatest influence on hearing.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory, demyelinating disease that can affect several areas of the central nervous system. Damage along the auditory pathway can alter its integrity significantly. Therefore, it is important to investigate the auditory pathway, from the brainstem to the cortex, in individuals with MS. Objective: The aim of this study was to characterize auditory evoked potentials in adults with MS of the remittent-recurrent type. Method: The study comprised 25 individuals with MS, between 25 and 55 years, and 25 age-and gender-matched healthy controls (research and control groups). Subjects underwent audiological and electrophysiological evaluations. Results: Statistically significant differences were observed between the groups regarding the results of the auditory brainstem response and the latency of the Na and P300 waves. Conclusion: Individuals with MS present abnormalities in auditory evoked potentials indicating dysfunction of different regions of the central auditory nervous system. Key words: auditory evoked potentials, auditory brain stem evoked potentials, P300 eventrelated potentials, multiple sclerosis.Potenciais evocados auditivos e esclerose múltipla RESUMO A esclerose múltipla é uma doença inflamatória desmielinizante que pode se desenvolver em diversas regiões do sistema nervoso central. O comprometimento da via auditiva central pode alterar significativamente a integridade desta e, portanto, a investigação desta região em indivíduos com esclerose múltipla, desde o tronco encefálico até o córtex, torna-se importante. Objetivo: Caracterizar os resultados dos potenciais evocados auditivos em adultos com esclerose múltipla do tipo remitenterecorrente. Método: Foram submetidos às avaliações audiológica e eletrofisiológica 25 indivíduos pertencentes ao grupo controle e 25 ao grupo pesquisa, com idades entre 25 e 55 anos. Resultados: Verificou-se diferença estatisticamente significante entre os grupos quanto à ocorrência de resultados normais e alterados no potencial evocado auditivo de tronco encefálico e latências das ondas Na e P300. Conclusão: Indivíduos com esclerose múltipla apresentam alterações nos potenciais evocados auditivos, indicando comprometimento de diferentes regiões do sistema nervoso auditivo central. Palavras-chave: potenciais evocados auditivos, potenciais evocados auditivos do tronco encefálico, potencial evocado P300, esclerose múltipla.

Both groups with Human Immunodeficiency Virus had higher hearing thresholds when compared to healthy individuals (group exposed to antiretroviral treatment showed the worst hearing threshold) and seemed to have lower neuroelectric transmission speed along the auditory pathway in the brainstem, subcortical and cortical regions.

The objective of the present study was to evaluate children born to HIV-infected mothers and to determine whether such children present auditory disorders or poor acquisition of the ability to localize sound. The population studied included 143 children (82 males and 61 females), ranging in age from one month to 30 months. The children were divided into three groups according to the classification system devised in 1994 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: infected; seroreverted; and exposed. The children were then submitted to audiological evaluation, including behavioral audiometry, visual reinforcement audiometry and measurement of acoustic immittance. Statistical analysis showed that the incidence of auditory disorders was significantly higher in the infected group. In the seroreverted and exposed groups, there was a marked absence of auditory disorders. In the infected group as a whole, the findings were suggestive of central auditory disorders. Evolution of the ability to localize sound was found to be poorer among the children in the infected group than among those in the seroreverted and exposed groups.

From the perspective of parents, the use of cochlear implants improves the quality of life of their children; the shorter the time of cochlear implants use, the higher the improvement in quality of life; and the more developed the auditory skills, the lower the percentage of quality of life improvement with the cochlear implants.