The paper entitled Frequency-following response acquisition parameters with speech stimulus in infants: A systematic review, by, Lemos, Nunes, Evangelista, Escera, Taveira, Balen, been published in the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research.
This paper is the outcome of a scientific collaboration between the Brainlab and the Prof. Sheila Andreoli Balen (Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Brazil), to systematically review the acquisition parameters and analysis tools of the neonatal Frequency-Following Response (FFR). The neonatal FFR is gaining momentum, as recent years have witnessed an increase in the number of papers published on newborns and neonates with the FFR, including ours (Ribas-Prats et al., 2019; Arenillas-Alcón et al., 2021). This paper is the first outcome of our joint collaboration with Prof. Balen on the effects of congenital syphilis on the neonatal auditory processing, as revealed with the FFR.
The full abstract reads as follows:
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to characterize parameters used for frequency-following response (FFR) acquisition in children up to 24 months of age through a systematic review.
Method: The study was registered in PROSPERO and followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses’ recommendations. Search was performed in six databases (LILACS, LIVIVO, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science) and gray literature (Google Scholar, OpenGrey, ProQuest) as well as via manual searches in bibliographic references. Observational studies using speech stimuli to elicit the FFR in infants with normal hearing on the age range from 0 until 24 months were included. No restrictions regarding language and year of publication were applied. Risk of bias was assessed with the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist. Data on stimulus, presentation rate, time window for analysis, number of sweeps, artifact rejection, online filters, stimulated ear, and examination condition were extracted.
Results: Four hundred fifty-nine studies were identified. After removing duplicates and reading titles and abstracts, 15 articles were included. Seven studies were classified as low risk of bias, seven as moderate risk, and one as high risk.
Conclusions: There is a consensus in the use of some acquisition parameters of the FFR with speech stimulus, such as the vertical mounting, the use of alternating polarity, a sampling rate of 20000 Hz, and the /da/ synthesized syllable of 40 ms in duration as the preferred stimulus. Although these parameters show some consensus, the results disclosed lack of a single established protocol for FFR acquisition with speech stimulus in infants in the investigated age range.
Reference:
Lemos, F.A., Nunes, A.D.S., Evangelista, C.K.S., Escera, C., Taveira, K.V.M., Balen, S.A. (2021). Frequency-following response acquisition parameters with speech stimulus in infants: A systematic review. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 64, 2085-2102.
Permanent doi: https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_JSLHR-20-00639.