Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Children diagnosed with auditory processing disorder (APD) show deficits in processing complex sounds that are associated with difficulties in higher-order language, learning, cognitive, and communicative functions. Amblyaudia (AMB) is a subcategory of APD characterized by abnormally large ear asymmetries in dichotic listening tasks. METHODS: Here, we examined frequency-specific neural oscillations and functional connectivity via high-density electroencephalography (EEG) in children with and without AMB during passive listening of nonspeech stimuli. RESULTS: Time-frequency maps of these "brain rhythms" revealed stronger phase-locked beta-gamma (~35 Hz) oscillations in AMB participants within bilateral auditory cortex for sounds presented to the right ear, suggesting a hypersynchronization and imbalance of auditory neural activity. Brain-behavior correlations revealed neural asymmetries in cortical responses predicted the larger than normal right-ear advantage seen in participants with AMB. Additionally, we found weaker functional connectivity in the AMB group from right to left auditory cortex, despite their stronger neural responses overall. CONCLUSION: Our results reveal abnormally large auditory sensory encoding and an imbalance in communication between cerebral hemispheres (ipsi- to -contralateral signaling) in AMB. SIGNIFICANCE: These neurophysiological changes might lead to the functionally poorer behavioral capacity to integrate information between the two ears in children with AMB.