Electrophysiological and behavioral evaluation of auditory processing before and after speech therapy intervention in children after traumatic brain injury: Case reports

Objectives: to verify the effects of a speech therapy intervention program in children after moderate and severe traumatic brain injury using electrophysiological and behavioral assessment of central auditory processing.
Method: Five children aged 9 to 11 years old who suffered closed brain trauma of moderate or severe degree for at least 6 months, right-handed, literate before the injury, diagnosed with Central Auditory Processing and Reading and Writing Disorders. Ten speech therapy intervention sessions were held, covering the area of language and auditory training activities. Children were submitted to electrophysiological evaluation with Long Latency Auditory Evoked Potential and behavioral assessment of central auditory processing, pre and post intervention.
Results: Statistically significant, after speech therapy intervention, in the LLAEP with tone burst, there was an improvement in the latencies of the N2 component in both ears and P3 in the right ear. CAPD improves the memory test for verbal sounds in sequence and the speech test with white noise in the right ear.
Conclusion: After the speech therapy intervention program in individuals with TBI it was observed: reduction of the latency of the N1 component in the left ear, in the LLAEP with tone burst;  reduction of the latencies of the components N1, P2 and N2 in the right and left ears, and for the latency of the P3 only in the right ear, in the LLAEP with complex stimuli and performance improvement in the behavioral tests of central auditory memory processing for verbal sounds in sequence and speech with white noise.