Assessing Cognitive Abilities in High-Performing Cochlear Implant Users

Despite being considered one of the most successful neural prostheses, cochlear implants (CIs) provide recipients with a wide range of speech perception performance. While some CI users can understand speech in the absence of visual cues, other recipients exhibit more limited speech perception. Cognitive skills have been documented as a contributor to complex auditory processing, such as language understanding; however, there are no normative data for existing standardized clinical tests assessing cognitive abilities in CI users. Here, we assess the impact of modality of presentation (i.e., auditory-visual versus visual) for the administration of working memory tests in high-performing CI users in addition to measuring processing speed, cognitive efficiency and intelligence quotient (IQ). Second, we relate performance on these cognitive measures to clinical CI speech perception outcomes.Methods: Twenty one post-lingually deafened, high-performing, adult CI users [age range: 52–88 years; 3 unilateral CI, 13 bimodal (i.e., CI with contralateral hearing aid), 5 bilateral CI] with clinical speech perception scores (i.e., AzBio sentences in quiet for the first-ear CI) of ≥60% were recruited. A cognitive test battery assessing auditory-visual working memory (AVWM), visual working memory (VWM), processing speed, cognitive efficiency and IQ was administered, in addition to clinical measures of speech perception in quiet (i.e., AzBio sentences in quiet). AzBio sentences were assessed in two conditions: first-ear CI only, and best-aided everyday wearing condition. Subjects also provided self-reported measures of performance and benefit from their CI using standardized materials, including the Glasgow Benefit Inventory (GBI) and the Nijmegen Cochlear Implant questionnaire (NCIQ).Results: High-performing CI users demonstrated greater VWM than AVWM recall. VWM was positively related to AzBio scores when measured in the first-ear CI only. AVWM, processing speed, cognitive efficiency, and IQ did not relate to either measure of speech perception (i.e., first-ear CI or best-aided conditions). Subjects’ self-reported benefit as measured by the GBI predicted best-aided CI speech perception performance.Conclusion: In high-performing CI recipients, visual presentation of working memory tests may improve our assessment of cognitive function

Enhanced Syllable Discrimination Thresholds in Musicians

Speech processing inherently relies on the perception of specific, rapidly changing spectral and temporal acoustic features. Advanced acoustic perception is also integral to musical expertise, and accordingly several studies have demonstrated a significant relationship between musical training and superior processing of various aspects of speech. Speech and music appear to overlap in spectral and temporal features; however, it remains unclear which of these acoustic features, crucial for speech processing, are most closely associated with musical training. The present study examined the perceptual acuity of musicians to the acoustic components of speech necessary for intra-phonemic discrimination of synthetic syllables. We compared musicians and non-musicians on discrimination thresholds of three synthetic speech syllable continua that varied in their spectral and temporal discrimination demands, specifically voice onset time (VOT) and amplitude envelope cues in the temporal domain. Musicians demonstrated superior discrimination only for syllables that required resolution of temporal cues. Furthermore, performance on the temporal syllable continua positively correlated with the length and intensity of musical training. These findings support one potential mechanism by which musical training may selectively enhance speech perception, namely by reinforcing temporal acuity and/or perception of amplitude rise time, and implications for the translation of musical training to long-term linguistic abilities.Grammy FoundationWilliam F. Milton Fun

Beat synchronization across the lifespan: intersection of development and musical experience

Rhythmic entrainment, or beat synchronization, provides an opportunity to understand how multiple systems operate together to integrate sensory-motor information. Also, synchronization is an essential component of musical performance that may be enhanced through musical training. Investigations of rhythmic entrainment have revealed a developmental trajectory across the lifespan, showing synchronization improves with age and musical experience. Here, we explore the development and maintenance of synchronization in childhood through older adulthood in a large cohort of participants (N = 145), and also ask how it may be altered by musical experience. We employed a uniform assessment of beat synchronization for all participants and compared performance developmentally and between individuals with and without musical experience. We show that the ability to consistently tap along to a beat improves with age into adulthood, yet in older adulthood tapping performance becomes more variable. Also, from childhood into young adulthood, individuals are able to tap increasingly close to the beat (i.e., asynchronies decline with age), however, this trend reverses from younger into older adulthood. There is a positive association between proportion of life spent playing music and tapping performance, which suggests a link between musical experience and auditory-motor integration. These results are broadly consistent with previous investigations into the development of beat synchronization across the lifespan, and thus complement existing studies and present new insights offered by a different, large cross-sectional sample

Evidence for Shared Cognitive Processing of Pitch in Music and Language

Language and music epitomize the complex representational and computational capacities of the human mind. Strikingly similar in their structural and expressive features, a longstanding question is whether the perceptual and cognitive mechanisms underlying these abilities are shared or distinct – either from each other or from other mental processes. One prominent feature shared between language and music is signal encoding using pitch, conveying pragmatics and semantics in language and melody in music. We investigated how pitch processing is shared between language and music by measuring consistency in individual differences in pitch perception across language, music, and three control conditions intended to assess basic sensory and domain-general cognitive processes. Individuals’ pitch perception abilities in language and music were most strongly related, even after accounting for performance in all control conditions. These results provide behavioral evidence, based on patterns of individual differences, that is consistent with the hypothesis that cognitive mechanisms for pitch processing may be shared between language and music.National Science Foundation (U.S.). Graduate Research Fellowship ProgramEunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (U.S.) (Grant 5K99HD057522

Pigeonpea nutrition and its improvement

Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan [L.] Millsp.), known by several vernacular and names such as red gram, tuar, Angola pea. yellow dhal and oil dhal, is one of the major grain legume crops of the tropics and sub-tropics. It is a crop of small holder dryland fmmers because it can grow well under subsistence level of agriculture and provides nutritive food, fodder, and fuel wood. It also improves soil by fixing atmospheric nitrogen. India by far is the largest pigeonpea producer it is consumed as decorticated split peas, popularly called as 'dhaL' In other countries, its consumption as whole dty and green vegetable is popular. Its foliage is used as fodder and milling by-products [onn an excellent feed for domestic animals. Pigeonpea seeds contain about 20-22% protein and appreciable amounts of essential amino.acids and minerals. DehuHing and boiling treatments of seeds get rid of the most antinutritional factors as tannins and enzyme inhibitors. Seed storage causes considerable losses in the quality of this legume. The seed protein of pigeonpea has been successfully enhanced by breeding from 20-22% to 28-30%. Such lines also agronomically performed well and have acceptable and color. The high-protein lines were found nutritionally superior to the cultivars because they would provide more quantities of utilizable protein and sulfur-containing amino acids

The isolation of pathogenic fungi from seed of tropical pasture legume species

The fungal microflora of seed of 26 species in 13 genera of tropical pasture legumes species were examined. A variety of techniques for isolating fungi have been tested and evaluated to find the most effective for isolating pathogenic, saprophytic and storage fungi. Numerous fungi were isolated from seeds placed on blotter and on potato dextrose agar. Many Fusarium species were isolated on Nash-Snyder agar , while storage fungi were Isolated mostly on salt- malt agar. A total of 42 species of-fungi in 20 different genera were isolated

Studies on graminicolous species of phyllachora fckl iii. the relationship of certain scolecospores to species of phyllachora

The present study and a survey of literature- showed that of the various spore types associated with species of Phyllachora, scolecospores typical of the form genus Leptostromella were most common. Examination has shown that certain spore types claimed as imperfect states of Phyllachora species are actually spores of hyperparasites. Evidence that the scolecospores belong to the Phyllachora species with which they are associated has been gathered. Studies on the development of P. parilis showed that the scolecospores associated with the perithecia of this species were genetically related to it. Attempts to germinate the scolecospores associated with three species of Phyllachora were unsuccessful. Similarly, when scolecospores were used as inoculum, test plants did not become infected. When ascosporic inoculum were used, however, infection occurred. Only one type of mycelium was found in each infection court, and pycnidia and perithecia developed from this in close association. Consequently, although the scolecosporous pycnidia developed prior to the perithecia, both types of fructification occurred in individual Phyllachora colonies. Within each mature colony the tissues of the pycnidia, perithecia, and clypeus became fused and were indistinguishable from one another. The development of the pycnidium and scolecospores is described, and it is shown that a different species of Leptostromella is associated with each different Phyllachora species. The Leptostromella species can be distinguished especially by the morphology of their sporophores. When it was shown that the morphology of the Leptostromella associated with each Phyllachora species was distinctive and constant, it was possible to assess the frequency and distribution of these associations. With some species of Phyllachora the association occurred in all specimens, while in others it was not as frequent. Always, however, the distribution of the association was as widespread as the species of Phyllachora concerned. It was noted that hyperparasites were able to parasitize the Leptostromella states as readily as the ascal states of various species of Phyllachora. The function of the scolecospores is not known, but it is suggested that they may be spermatia

Studies on graminicolous species of phyllachora fckl. iv. evaluation of the criteria of species

Recognition of the large number of graminicolous Phyllachora spp. by various authors is attributed to the use of unreliable morphological characters as taxonomic criteria, as well as acceptance of the concept of each Phyllachora species being host- specific. It is considered that in fact there are far fewer Phyllachora spp. than reported in the literature and an attempt is made to clarify the position by making a study of Phyllachoras which occur on grasses. By considering in turn each character previously used to delimit species and by studying the degree of variation of each character within individual specimens as well as groups of specimens on closely related hosts, and between groups of specimens on unrelated hosts, it is possible to evaluate the usefulness of each character in taxonomy. It is shown that of all the characters previously used only two are sufficiently stable for taxonomic purposes. These are the length of the ascus pedicel relative to that of the ascosporific portion of the ascus, and the morphology of ascospores. Ascospore morphology is particularly useful, but only when all the various shapes that can occur in individual specimens are noted and when ascospore shape, as distinct from outline, is used. The use of certain other characters of Phyllachoras is proposed. These are: Appressorium morphology (when appressoria are produced from ascospores germinated on host tissue) and the morphology of the sporophores produced by the Leptostromella- states of certain Phyllachoras. It is suggested that characters of imperfect states of Phyllachora will also provide useful taxonomic characters when these states are known to exist in more species than at present. As well as the characters listed as reliable for delimiting species, other characters such as ascospore size and arrangement, ascus length, and sporophore size may have limited usefulness when used to confirm a diagnosis, but not to delimit species