Use it or lose it, we are all familiar with this adage. It is true for the body and true for the brain.

Without sufficient sensory stimulation a child’s brain does not develop as it should. Nor does an adult brain maintain full  functionality as a  result of negative plasticity. The auditory system thrives with the right input and suffers if deprived of sound or overstimulated by noise.

A new study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania shows that declines in hearing ability may accelerate gray mater atrophy in auditory areas of the brain and increase the listening effort necessary for older adults to successfully comprehend speech.

Hearing aids can be an effective intervention. Another approach to  consider is music listening therapy. This is  neuroauditory training to improve sound brain fitness in part by stimulating the frequency bands where the deficits exist with specially modified music.  There has been good success helping people with mild hearing loss through the use of The Listening Program®. In many cases listeners no longer require hearing aids, because they trained their brain to better understand what it hears (auditory processing).

Many audiologists will share that when patients with mild hearing loss wear hearing aids for a period of time that their auditory discrimination improves on tests without the hearing aids. This is due to the brain now being able to perceive the auditory signal through sound amplification. The increased signal is enough to improve brain processing. In my opinion, a course of The Listening Program should be considered prior to using hearing aids in cases of mild hearing loss, and definitely needs to be used along with hearing aids. This is something proactive that can be done to stimulate the brain so people can continue to enjoy the richness that exists within the sounds of our loved ones voices, music, and nature.

Read more about this study published in the Journal of Neuroscience here.

I wanted to share my interview with Teri Arranga and Kristin Selby Gonzales on the VoiceAmerica Talk Radio Network-Autism One Radio from earlier this week. We discuss autism spectrum disorders and the application of The Listening Program®, and how it can help children listen, learn, and connect.

Here is a link to the interview. Get the podcast in iTunes.

If you get a chance to listen I would love to have your questions and comments here.

It is well documented that children with Down syndrome have difficulty with hearing, auditory processing and language development. This pilot study was undertaken to trial tests and questionnaires for suitability for use with the children, to determine if any benefit could be established from the use of The Listening Program® as a prelude to a more formal study. The Listening Program was developed by Advanced Brain Technologies (ABT) as a modified music method to improve auditory processing, self regulation and brain performance.

Nine children between the ages of 5 and 12 years took part, acting as their own controls. They used The Listening Program over a 10-week period. Each child listened to acoustically modified music, through headphones, for two 15-minute sessions, 5 days a week, for 10 weeks. A battery of tests recommended by specialists in speech and language and human communication, were performed before and after intervention. In addition, questionnaires were completed at the end by parents and teachers involved.

Although the children only completed half the recommended twenty week protocol due to time constraints, all experienced positive changes in speech and listening. Some made improvements in a number of additional areas. These positive findings are consistent with previous research studies using The Listening Program with children with learning difficulties, auditory processing disorder, and autism; among other issues.  

“There is a great need to have a cost-effective, non-invasive approach to improving speech and language skills in people with Down syndrome,” said Alex Doman, founder and CEO of Advanced Brain Technologies.  ”While further study into the impact of The Listening Program is required for this purpose, the pilot study demonstrated this approach could be a very useful tool in improving communication in children with Down syndrome”.

Down syndrome is a genetic condition that causes delays in physical and intellectual development. It is the most frequently occurring chromosomal disorder, present in one of every 800 live births.  

(i)  Jeyes, G., Newton,C. Evaluation of The Listening Program in Assessing Auditory Processing and Speech Skills in Children with Down Syndrome. Music and Medicine August 2, 2010 doi: 10.1177/ 1943862110371809

Children listened to 30 minutes of music a day through a special audio system which provided the music through both auditory pathways, air and bone conduction. The outcomes are positive and have been presented at European conferences. We now await approval for a large scale clinical trial to confirm these results in a larger sample size.

Continence problems severely impact quality of life, self esteem, and have large costs associated with supporting these children as they enter school. Our protocol holds promise to help children with toilet training problems, reduce costs of services to them, and help them live a happier more fulfilling life.

Note that the program name in the article is incorrect. What is referenced as the Listening Project is supposed to be The Listening Program® developed by Advanced Brain Technologies in Ogden, Utah.

Read the full article

UPDATE: Thank you to the staff at the Liverpool Echo for making the correction to the program name!

The host of challenges that come with a Rett syndrome diagnosis affect the family as a whole, with most individuals requiring assistance in most every aspect of their life. The needs vary through the four stages of Rett syndrome from Early Onset, Rapid Destructive, Plateau, and on to Late Motor Deterioration.

A British research study showed that 5 girls with Rett Syndrome benefitted from listening to a music listening method developed by my company Advanced Brain Technologies called The Listening Program®. The findings show improvements in a number of areas with the strongest trend toward increased engagement and decreased anxiety. Sensory processing appears to be improving which is consistent with outcomes of other studies.  These findings were presented by the investigator Helen Francis at the International Rett Syndrome Congress in Paris back in October 2008.

We are encouraged by these results and the potential to improve the quality of life for those with Rett syndrome. A larger controlled trial should be conducted, and I am hopeful this study will help make that happen.

Review the research poster and learn more about Rett syndrome at the International Rett Syndrome Foundation.

The Listening Program® (TLP) is a music listening therapy that provides engaging brain stimulation to improve performance in school, work and life. This introductory webinar is free and will provide an overview of  the auditory system, auditory processing, and how music listening therapy can help improve the life of a child on the autism spectrum.

Date: Sunday, Dec. 20, 2009
Times: USA  11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST (Eastern Standard Time)
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM MST (Mountain Standard Time)
India    9:30 PM – 10:30 PM IST (Indian Standard Time)

TO REGISTER: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/790568674

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about the Webinar.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
PC
Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista

Mac
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer

If hearing is impacted, so is  listening, auditory processing,  receptive and expressive language, and cognitive function. One broken link in the chain creates a domino effect in terms of  development of learning, behavior and communication.

Music listening therapy is a viable intervention for children with Down Syndrome. We have seen wide and varied success with The Listening Program® over the years, with the greatest success when the music is provided with a specialized audio system we developed called the ABT Bone Conduction Audio System™  that connects to an iPod or portable CD player and delivers the music simultaneously through air conduction and subtle vibrations through bone conduction. This integrated approach delivers a more reliable auditory signal to the brain helping to train it to discriminate sound and support other functions of the autonomic and central nervous systems.

A study was conducted by Gwyneth Jeyes and Caroline Newton in the UK in which a group of kids with Down Syndrome completed just half of the recommended minimum 50 hour protocol of The Listening Program® which is spread over the course of several months, with daily listening sessions of 15 or 30 minutes. These kids ages 5 to 12 yrs listened for just 25 hours and without the added bone conduction training. Even at this level of intervention all but one of the nine children showed improvements in listening, speech and language skills based on parent surveys. Other improvements were also seen in several of the children.

These results were presented in a Poster Session at the 1oth World Down Syndrome Congress in Dublin back in August. While the study is small, the outcomes are consistent with reports from Speech and Language Pathologists and other practitioners using The Listening Program® with their clients with this chromosomal anomaly.  I am hopeful that we will see interest in see a larger, controlled study.

Read or download the poster.

“A Study to Establish Whether the Use of The Listening Program is Effective in Improving Auditory Skills for Children with Autism” was presented by Gwyneth Jeyes  at the Developmental Practitioners Association Conference “Children Matter” In Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom back in September.

Twelve children on the autism spectrum ranging in age from 5 yrs. 8 mo. to 12 yrs. 4 mo. in Northern Ireland participated in the study. Results from the SCAN-C test for Auditory Processing Disorders demonstrated improvements in auditory skills in all children who completed The Listening Program® method of music listening therapy.

The Listening Program® has been widely used for more than a decade to reduce auditory hypersensitivites, improve auditory discrimination, increase communication skills, and social engagement for children on the autism spectrum. The outcomes of this research are encouraging, consistent with other studies,  and warrant the design of  a larger, controlled study to explore the feasibility of more widespread use of this music listening therapy method to improve auditory processing skills for children with autism spectrum disorders.

To read the full study

The vast majority of school-aged children can focus on the voice of a teacher amid the cacophony of the typical classroom thanks to a brain that automatically focuses on relevant, predictable and repeating auditory information, according to new research from Northwestern University.

But for children with developmental dyslexia, the teacher’s voice may get lost in the background noise of banging lockers, whispering children, playground screams and scraping chairs, the researchers say. Their study appears in the Nov. 12 issue of Neuron.

Recent scientific studies suggest that children with developmental dyslexia — a neurological disorder affecting reading and spelling skills in 5 to 10 percent of school aged children — have difficulties separating relevant auditory information from competing noise.

The research from Northwestern University’s Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory not only confirms those findings but presents biological evidence that children who report problems hearing speech in noise also suffer from a measurable neural impairment that adversely affects their ability to make use of regularities in the sound environment.

“The ability to sharpen or fine-tune repeating elements is crucial to hearing speech in noise because it allows for superior ‘tagging’ of voice pitch, an important cue in picking out a particular voice within background noise,” said Nina Kraus, Hugh Knowles Professor of Communication Sciences and Neurobiology and director of the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory.

In the article “Context-dependent encoding in the human auditory brainstem relates to hearing speech-in-noise: Implications for developmental dyslexia,” Kraus and co-investigators Bharath Chandrasekaran, Jane Hornickel, Erika Skoe and Trent Nicol demonstrate that the remarkable ability of the brain to tune into relevant aspects in the soundscape is carried out by an adaptive auditory system that continuously changes its activity based on the demands of context.1  Click here for full article.

These findings are consistent with part of the underlying theories behind our work at Advanced Brain Technologies. This research and studies on musical training at Northwestern provides support to warrant further studies on the potential of using music listening therapy (The Listening Program®) as an intervention for struggling readers.

1 Retrieved November 12, 2009 http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-11/nu-nbf110309.php