Background: Otitis media (OM) leads to significant reduction in the hearing sensitivity. The reduced auditory input, if in the early years of life when the auditory neural system is still maturing, may adversely influence the structural as well as functional development of the system. Past research has reported abnormalities in both the structure and function of brainstem nuclei following auditory deprivation, but, it has not necessarily focused on children who had OM in their first year of life. It can also be said that if auditory processing is affected at the brainstem level because of early onset OM (reduced auditory input in the crucial periods of neural development), then, it may be said that auditory processing is also affected at the cortical level because it receives distorted input from the brainstem. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to document the effects of early onset OM on auditory processing, if any, at the brainstem as well as at cortical levels. A related purpose of the study was to investigate the persistence of the effects of early onset OM, if any, on auditory processing.

No abstract