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Abstract #1558

Different Higher-Order Auditory Processing Tasks Show Differing Correlations with White Matter Microstructure in Normal-Hearing Children

Vincent Jerome Schmithorst1, Scott Kerry Holland1, Elena Plante2

1Radiology, Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States; 2Speech, Language, & Hearing Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States


A diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) study was conducted in a cohort of normal-hearing children ages 9-11 investigating correlations of white matter microstructure with higher-order auditory processing tasks often used to diagnose auditory processing disorder (APD) in children. The more difficult tasks showed negative correlations of fractional anisotropy (FA) in the corticospinal tract with task performance, while the easiest task showed a positive correlation. Positive correlations of FA with task performance were also seen in white matter adjoining prefrontal and occipital areas for some tasks. Results support a dual-stream (dorsal and ventral) model of auditory comprehension.

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