Comparison of Auditory Temporal Processing in Left and Right Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

Azam Navaei Lavasani, Ghasem Mohammad Khani, Mahmood Motamedi, Leila Jalilvand Karimi, Shohreh Jalaei

Abstract


Background: Auditory temporal processing is the main feature of speech processing abilities which including temporal resolution, temporal ordering, temporal integration and temporal masking. Even though the patients with temporal lobe epilepsy have normal hearing, they may show speech recognition disorders. This study aimed to compare the auditory temporal processing in patients with left and right temporal lobe epilepsy.Materials and Methods: In this cross sectional non-interventional study, 25 patients with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE) with mean age of 31.1 years including 11 patients with Right Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (RTLE) and 14 patients with Left Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (LTLE) were evaluated by gap in noise (GIN) and duration pattern sequencing (DPS) tests. Results were compared with t-test analysis.Results: There was no significant difference between patients with RTLE and LTLE in GIN test (p>0.05). But there was significant difference between patients with RTLE and LTLE (p=0.000) in DPS test.Conclusion: Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy have difficulties in temporal processing performances. Difficulties are more significant in patients with LTLE since the left temporal lobe is specialized for the processing of temporal information especially for the temporal ordering.

 

Keywords: Temporal Processing, Temporal Resolution, Gap in Noise Test, Duration Pattern Sequencing Test, Temporal Lobe Epilepsy