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R Elizondo

Publications and source records attributed to R Elizondo.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1994

Linguistic influences on the auditory processing of speech by children with normal hearing or hearing impairment.

OBJECTIVE: The accurate perception of speech requires the processing of multidimensional information. The aim of this research was to examine linguistic influences on the auditory processing of speech in the presence of childhood hearing impairment. DESIGN: The processing interactions characterizing the linguistic and auditory dimensions were assessed with a pediatric auditory analog of the Pomerantz task (Pomerantz, Pristach, & Carson, 1989). The task yields measures of Stroop interference, the effect of irrelevant semantic content, and of Garner interference, the effect of irrelevant linguistic variability (Stroop, 1935; Garner, 1974a). Subjects were 100 normal-hearing children and 60 hearing-impaired children. Subjects were required to attend selectively to the auditory (voice-gender) dimension and to ignore the linguistic dimension. The logic of the task is that performance for the voice-gender dimension will be unaffected by what is happening on the irrelevant dimension if the dimensions are processed independently. On the other hand, if the dimensions are not processed independently, subjects will not be able to attend selectively and performance for the relevant dimension will be affected by what is happening on the to-be-ignored dimension. RESULTS: Both the normal-hearing and hearing-impaired children showed auditory Stroop and Garner interference effects, indicating that the auditory and linguistic dimensions were not processed independently by either group. However, the linguistic dimension exerted significantly less influence on auditory processing in the presence of childhood hearing impairment. Whereas normal-hearing children had remarkable difficulty ignoring irrelevant word input and focusing exclusively on voice-gender, hearing-impaired children were relatively successful at ignoring the linguistic dimension and attending selectively to the auditory dimension of speech. This result implies that the linguistic dimension of auditory speech input may have a different weight or processing value in the presence of childhood hearing impairment. It may be the case that hearing-impaired children encode spoken speech disproportionately in terms of the auditory dimensions, which offer important supplementary aids to speechreading. Further research is being carried out to address these possibilities. CONCLUSIONS: Both Stroop and Garner interference were significantly reduced in the presence of childhood hearing impairment. This pattern of results suggests that multidimensional speech processing is carried out in a less stimulus-bound manner in the presence of childhood hearing impairment.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1993

Developmental trends in the interaction between auditory and linguistic processing.

The developmental course of multidimensional speech processing was examined in 80 children between 3 and 6 years of age and in 60 adults between 20 and 86 years of age. Processing interactions were assessed with a speeded classification task (Garner, 1974a), which required the subjects to attend selectively to the voice dimension while ignoring the linguistic dimension, and vice versa. The children and adults exhibited both similarities and differences in the patterns of processing dependencies. For all ages, performance for each dimension was slower in the presence of variation in the irrelevant dimension; irrelevant variation in the voice dimension disrupted performance more than irrelevant variation in the linguistic dimension. Trends in the degree of interference, on the other hand, showed significant differences between dimensions as a function of age. Whereas the degree of interference for the voice-dimension-relevant did not show significant age-related change, the degree of interference for the word-dimension-relevant declined significantly with age in a linear as well as a quadratic manner. A major age-related change in the relation between dimensions was that word processing, relative to voice-gender processing, required significantly more time in the children than in the adults. Overall, the developmental course characterizing multidimensional speech processing evidenced more pronounced change when the linguistic dimension, rather than the voice dimension, was relevant.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Fever induced by Escherichia coli or intrahypothalamic prostaglandin E2 enhances interferon-gamma synthesis.

We previously showed that hyperthermia induced in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) by forced passive heating "primes" the peripheral lymphocyte population for increased synthesis of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma). It was not clear whether these data could be extrapolated to the physiological response in naturally occurring fever. Therefore, in the current experiments, the temperature of rhesus monkeys was raised either by systemic injection of killed Escherichia coli or by intrahypothalamic administration of prostaglandin E2. Mononuclear cells collected subsequently from such monkeys produced more IFN-gamma in response to stimulation with mitogens than cells from control monkeys. Direct administration of IFN-alpha, -beta, or -gamma to the hypothalamus did not affect the body temperature of rhesus monkeys.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Effects of atropine and pyridostigmine in heat-stressed patas monkeys.

The effects of a single intramuscular atropine injection (0.03 mg.kg-1) and a chronic oral pyridostigmine treatment (0.4 mg.kg-1, 3 times/day over a period of 7 d) on the thermoregulatory effector responses of unanesthetized patas monkeys were investigated using indirect calorimetry. The effects of atropine treatment on the thermoregulatory effector responses of patas monkeys exposed to 25 degrees and 35 degrees C were qualitatively similar but quantitatively greater at 35 degrees C. At 35 degrees C atropine decreased sweating (Esw) 52%, increased rectal temperature (Tre), mean skin temperature (Tsk), metabolic rate (MR), and whole body conductance (K), and elicited a consistent 11% increase in heart rate (HR). Daily oral pyridostigmine treatment to patas monkeys produced a significant 25-30% drop in serum cholinesterase activity with no chronic effects on thermoregulatory or cardiovascular functions. The acute effects of oral pyridostigmine treatment in this species included transient 12% and 15% decreases in MR and HR, respectively, and a transient 25% increase in Esw. The latter was associated with significant acute reductions in Tre and Tsk which lasted at least 120 min following pyridostigmine administration. It is concluded that the patas monkey is an excellent animal model for studies to evaluate the effects of neuroactive agents on thermoregulatory and other physiological functions which are difficult, if not impossible, to perform on humans.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Effects of exercise-heat acclimation on fluid, electrolyte, and endocrine responses during tilt and +Gz acceleration in women and men.

Plasma fluid, electrolyte, protein, renin, and vasoactive hormone (epinephrine, norepinephrine, vasopressin) responses were measured in six women (21-23 yr) and four men (21-38 yr) before and immediately following an orthostatic tolerance test (70 degrees head-up tilt) and a +Gz (head-to-foot) acceleration tolerance test (0.5 G X min-1 linear ramp to grayout). These tests were conducted before and after 12 consecutive days of exercise-heat acclimation when the subjects exercised on a cycle ergometer at a relative oxygen uptake of 44% to 49% peak oxygen uptake in a hot environment (Ta = 40 degrees C, 42% rh). During acclimation plasma volume increased by 10.6% (p less than 0.05) in the women and by 11.9% (p less than 0.05) in the men; in both groups exercise heart rate decreased significantly. After acclimation, acceleration tolerance was unchanged in both groups (range 3.1 to 3.4 G); the women's tilt tolerance was unchanged (range 33.6 to 39.5 min), but the men's tilt tolerance increased from 30.4 min before to 58.3 min (delta = 91%, p less than 0.05) after acclimation. Since the pattern of fluid, electrolyte, and protein shifts and acceleration tolerances in the women and men were virtually the same, the hormone responses were highly variable, and the men's tilt tolerance increased significantly after acclimation, it is clear that responses to tilting cannot be used to predict responses to acceleration. Analysis of data from the present study and the literature suggests that current exercise training regimes should be unrestricted for astronauts who have not previously been highly endurance trained.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Acceleration↗