Study reveals that chronic otitis media disrupts spectral modulation sensitivity, affecting phonological sensitivity in children.
Key Points
Children with chronic otitis media show significantly poorer spectral modulation sensitivity than peers without such histories.
Even those without significant otitis media histories have reduced spectral modulation detection compared to adults, indicating a prolonged developmental course.
Findings stress the importance of early auditory experiences in developing auditory pathways and their related language skills.
Higher spectral modulation thresholds correlate strongly with delays in phonological sensitivity, but not with vocabulary size in children.