Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD)

Overall: Dysphagia (swallowing disorders) causes 150,000 annual hospitalizations, increases pneumonia incidence, and adds 220,000 additional days to hospital admissions each year. Dysphagia risk is currently assessed via screening, and a failed screen then leads to the diagnostic gold-standard, the videofluoroscopic (VF) test. However, many patients who aspirate pass initial screens because they aspirate silently.

ABSTRACT: Frequency-following responses (FFRs) are scalp-recorded electrophysiological ‘neurophonic’ potentials that reflect phase-locked activity from neural ensembles across the auditory pathway. FFRs provide a neural snapshot of the integrity of supra-threshold speech processing that can be measured non-invasively using a minimal electrophysiological set-up that already exists in audiology clinics, has high test-retest reliability, and requires minimal subject preparation.