Effect of Sensory Modality on Reaction Time in Individuals with Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder

• Published in: Journal of communication disorders 2022-11, Vol.100, p.106278-106278, Article 106278
• Main Authors: Balan, Jithin Raj, Jaisinghani, Priyanka
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Audio-visual; Auditory; Auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder; Deafness; Hearing Loss; Hearing Loss, Central; Humans; Modality; Reaction Time; Speech Perception; Visual
• ISSN: 0021-9924; 1873-7994
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2022.106278

•Longer reaction time in individuals with Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorders in all the three modalities (auditory, visual, & audio-visual) compared to normal.•Individuals with auditory neuropathy provide faster and accurate response in audio-visual mode in forced choice task.•Lesser reaction time in audio-visual mode compared to auditory mode suggests potential of audio-visual modality in management. To investigate and compare the reaction time of individuals with auditory neuropathy in three modalities, auditory, visual, and audio-visual. The reaction time of individuals with auditory neuropathy was also compared with those with normal hearing. The relationship between reaction time across modalities and the duration of hearing loss in auditory neuropathy was also investigated. The reaction time of adults with auditory neuropathy and those with normal hearing was measured in the three modalities using the Choice reaction time task. The auditory neuropathy group significantly had a longer reaction time than the normal hearing in all modalities. The trend of the mean reaction time differed across groups. Further, a significant difference in reaction time of the auditory neuropathy group was noted between auditory and visual mode, auditory and audio-visual mode. However, no significant difference between visual and audio-visual modalities was noted in reaction time. Significantly longer reaction time in auditory neuropathy is presumed to have resulted from neural conduction delay and impaired processing. The auditory neuropathy group can utilize visual cues for faster processing, and the study recommends an audio-visual mode for their management. In addition, the duration of hearing loss in auditory neuropathy had no relationship with reaction time across all modalities.