A research project funded by the Australian Childhood Foundation (ACF) will be conducted in Australian facilities of the ACF to evaluate the effectiveness of the Listening Project Protocol (LPP) in children with a trauma history. The LPP is designed as a "neural exercise" to reduce auditory hypersensitivities, to improve auditory processing of speech, and to improve behavioral state regulation. The LPP uses acoustic stimulation to exercise the neural regulation of the middle ear structures to rehabilitate and to normalize the acoustic transfer function of the middle ear structures. The current study is being conducted to evaluate efficacy and feasibility of the LPP and will use objective measures to evaluate changes in acoustic transfer function of the middle ears structures, auditory processing skills, physiological state regulation, and sensory symptoms.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
43
The intervention will consist of listening to computer-altered acoustic stimulation, designed to modulate the frequency band of vocal music passed to the participant. The frequency characteristics of the acoustic stimulation are selected to emphasize the relative importance of specific frequencies in conveying the information embedded in human speech. Modulation of the acoustic energy within the frequencies of human voice, similar to an exaggerated vocal prosody, are hypothesized to recruit and modulate the neural regulation of the middle ear muscles and to functionally reduce sound hypersensitivities and improve auditory processing.
Child Trauma Service Unit, Australian Childhood Foundation
Ringwood, Victoria, Australia
Auditory hypersensitivity
Brain-Body Center Sensory Scales (BBC Sensory Scales) (parental questionnaire)
Time frame: pre-intervention (within 1 week before intervention), post-intervention (within 1 week after intervention), 1 month post-intervention
Autonomic state regulation
heart rate, heart period, high-frequency heart rate variability/respiratory sinus arrhythmia
Time frame: pre-intervention (within 1 week before intervention), immediate post-intervention (within 1 week after intervention), 1 month post-intervention
Auditory processing
filtered words, competing words subscales of SCAN
Time frame: pre-intervention (within 1 week before intervention), immediate post-intervention (within 1 week after intervention), 1 month post-intervention
social behavior
Listening Project Parent Questionnaire
Time frame: post-intervention (within 1 week after the intervention), 1 month post-intervention
Middle ear muscle transfer function
MESAS (Middle Ear Sound Absorption System)
Time frame: pre-intervention (within 1 week before intervention), immediate post-intervention (within 1 week after intervention), 1 month post-intervention
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