Multisensory Audiovisual Processing in Children With a Sensory Processing Disorder (II): Speech Integration Under Noisy Environmental Conditions

Abstract

Background: There exists a cohort of children and adults who exhibit an inordinately high degree of discomfort when experiencing what would be considered moderate and manageable levels of sensory input. That is, they show over-responsivity in the face of entirely typical sound, light, touch, taste, or smell inputs, and this occurs to such an extent that it interferes with their daily functioning and reaches clinical levels of dysfunction. What marks these individuals apart is that this sensory processing disorder (SPD) is observed in the absence of other symptom clusters that would result in a diagnosis of Autism, ADHD, or other neurodevelopmental disorders more typically associated with sensory processing difficulties. One major theory forwarded to account for these SPDs posits a deficit in multisensory integration, such that the various sensory inputs are not appropriately integrated into the central nervous system, leading to an overwhelming sensory-perceptual environment, and in turn to the sensory-defensive phenotype observed in these individuals. Methods: We tested whether children (6-16 years) with an over-responsive SPD phenotype (N = 12) integrated multisensory speech differently from age-matched typically-developing controls (TD: N = 12). Participants identified monosyllabic words while background noise level and sensory modality (auditory-alone, visual-alone, audiovisual) were varied in pseudorandom order. Improved word identification when speech was both seen and heard compared to when it was simply heard served to index multisensory speech integration. Results: School-aged children with an SPD show a deficit in the ability to benefit from the combination of both seen and heard speech inputs under noisy environmental

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“…Therefore, it is accepted that there is a significant number of children who have a problem with sensory processing, without meeting the criteria for any disorder of neurological development. These children are of great clinical concern, because in the absence of a clearly identified diagnostic category, their access to services and appropriate treatments is often limited, which should be the subject of future research [16].…”

Neural correlates of multisensory enhancement in audiovisual narrative speech perception: a fMRI investigation

“…One area of particular interest to multisensory (MS) researchers is speech recognition, where it has long been known that visual articulatory cues can strongly influence auditory speech perception (McGurk & MacDonald, 1976; Saint-Amour et al, 2007; Tjan et al, 2014). This is especially true when the auditory speech signal is ambiguous, as is often the case when the background environment is noisy or there are multiple simultaneous speakers (Benoit et al, 1994; Foxe et al, 2020; Foxe et al, 2015; Ma et al, 2009; MacLeod & Summerfield, 1987; Molholm et al, 2020; Richie & Kewley-Port, 2008; Ross et al, 2011; Ross, Saint-Amour, Leavitt, Javitt, et al, 2007; Senkowski et al, 2008; Sumby, 1954). Indeed, despite the fact that most of us are generally poor lip readers when only the visual signal is available, the enhancing effects of visual speech can be dramatic, such that visual inputs can render completely indecipherable vocalizations clearly audible.…”

Understanding Foot Loading and Balance Behavior of Children with Motor Sensory Processing Disorder

“…SPD often accompanies other symptoms, such as autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). SPD may result from preborn or postborn factors [3,4]. This disorder is reported as an neurological impairment that limits the brain's ability to receive, process and respond to sensory stimuli [3,5,6].…”