Background and Aim: Today, Bilingualism is a developing phenomenon which half of the world population is bilingual. Auditory system is the main route to language learning, so it is expected that bilingualism has an effect on functions of the Auditory system. Auditory memory is one of the Auditory processes which is a cornerstone of linguistic skills and learning process growth, so that, it has an important role in language learning. In this paper, functions of the Auditory memory in monolinguals and precocious bilinguals have been investigated through dichotic Auditory-verbal memory test.Methods: A cross sectional-contrastive study of the Persian version of dichotic Auditory-verbal memory test has been carried out among 30 monolingual and 30 bilingual persons. The participants were chosen from both sexes in the age range of 18-30, and test scores have been compared in both groups and sexes.Results: Mean score of dichotic Auditory-verbal memory test in monolinguals was 5.47 (from 10), with a standard deviant of 0.55, and in bilinguals were 7.52, with a standard deviant of 0.90, which statistically, it showed a significant difference in scores between the two groups (p<0.001). There was no significant difference among men and women’s scores in monolingual (p=0.06) and bilingual (p=0.10) groups.Conclusion: Results of this limited research showed that there was a considerable functional difference between monolinguals and bilinguals in dichotic Auditory-verbal memory test.Therefore, it seems precocious bilingualism has a positive effect on the Auditory memory.

Background and Aim: Music exists in all cultures; many scientists are seeking to understand how music effects cognitive development such as comprehension, memory, and reading skills. More recently, a considerable number of neuroscience studies on music have been developed. This study aimed to investigate the effects of null and positive background music in comparison with silence on Auditory-verbal memory performance.Methods: Forty young adults (male and female) with normal hearing, aged between 18 and 26, participated in this comparative-analysis study. An Auditory and speech evaluation was conducted in order to investigate the effects of background music on working memory. Subsequently, the Rey Auditory-verbal learning test was performed for three conditions: silence, positive, and null music.Results: The mean score of the Rey Auditory-verbal learning test in silence condition was higher than the positive music condition (p=0.003) and the null music condition (p=0.01). The tests results did not reveal any gender differences.Conclusion: It seems that the presence of competitive music (positive and null music) and the orientation of Auditory attention have negative effects on the performance of verbal working memory. It is possibly owing to the intervention of music with verbal information processing in the brain.

Background and Aims: Auditory verbal working memory is defined as the ability to learn, retain, and recall verbal syllables or words. Various factors like age, gender, education, and change in endocrine secretions, such as gonads, can affect the acquisition of memory and learning test scores. In the present study, the effect of menopause on changes in hormonal secretion was studied on women's working memory. Materials and Methods: A descriptive-analytic study was performed on 25 menopause women, aged 50– 59, with normal hearing and who had had their menopause during the past two years or more. Sampling method was available sampling which was perfromed using the Persion version of the Rey Auditory – verbal test. In order to investigate the status of data distribution we used Shapirovailk test, to examine the relationship between immediate recall and delayed recall and delayed recall, Wilcoxon test was run, to study the correlation between stages 1 to 5, Friedman test was used, and to investigate the relationship between age, education, and years of menopause, Spearman's correlation coefficient was run. Results: The results showed that there is a significant relationship between the scores of trails 1 to 5. There was also a significant relationship between delayed memory with recognition score and also between education and some scores of memory test. Conclusion: Menopause in the age range of 50 to 59 years does not affect verbal Auditory memory and it seems that the level of education will have a greater impact on the acquisition of scores in a decade of life.

Background and Objective: Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is the most common cause of vertigo with peripheral origin, and its psychologic consequences frequently ignored by clinicians. In this regard, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of BPPV on patient Auditory-verbal memory. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 40 volunteer patients with acute vertigo underwent Auditory and vestibular function tests. In addition, after the confirmation of BPPV, the Persian version of Dizziness Handicap Inventory was completed by all the subjects. Then, the Persian version of the Rey Auditory-verbal Learning Test was conducted on the participants. Results: The obtained results showed that the level of disability caused by BPPV could lead to a decrease in the capacity of Auditory-verbal memory in comparison to that in normal individuals. Conclusion: Patients with BPPV who suffer from severe rotator vertigo have higher number of problems in learning through Auditory-verbal memory in comparison to normal individuals. Moreover, suffering from acute vertigo as an unpleasant physical condition can lead to considerable cognitive consequences in these patients.

Background and Aim: Although recent research has revealed the positive effects of bilingualism on children's cognitive abilities, little information is available on the relationship between bilingualism and working memory. working memory is generally composed of four distinct parts, among which the phonological loop plays an important role in speech and language development, reading skills, and learning. In the present study, bilingual and monolingual students were compared in terms of Auditory-verbal memory performance, using Rey Auditoryverbal learning test.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the Auditory-verbal memory performance of 56 monolingual and 55 bilingual students were assessed, using the Persian version of Rey Auditory-verbal learning test. The study samples were selected among students in the fifth and sixth grades of primary school. Finally, the scores obtained on the test were compared between the two groups.Results: The mean scores of stages 1-5, 7, and 8 of Rey test were 48.71 (SD=6.71) out of 75, 10.25 (SD=2.29) out of 15, and 10.50 (SD=2.27) out of 15 in monolinguals and 53.54 (SD=5.24), 11.80 (SD=2.13), and 11.98 (SD=1.88) in bilinguals, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between the scores of the two groups (p<0.001, p=0.001, and p=0.001, respectively).Conclusion: In the present study, the bilingual group showed a significantly better Auditoryverbal memory performance, compared to their monolingual peers, based on the Rey Auditoryverbal learning test. Therefore, it can be concluded that bilingualism may have a positive impact on Auditory-verbal working memory.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the verbal memory and working memory impairment in healthy siblings of patients with schizophrenia.Methods: The purpose of this study was to compare cognitive deficits in siblings of the patients with schizophrenia and control group. A total of 35 unaffected siblings of patients with schizophrenia were selected from the relatives of the patients referred to Shoosh clinic and 35 matched healthy controls were selected from the staff of the same clinic. This sample was chosen accessible. Then, the subjects completed verbal Paired Association Test, Logical memory Test, Wechsler memory Scale-Revised, and N-back working memory Test. Data were analyzed by Chi-square, t test, and Multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 20.Results: The results indicated that there were significant differences between the siblings of the patients with schizophrenia and control group with respect to the cognitive functions (P<0.05) Siblings of the patients with schizophrenia performed low in both verbal and working memory compared to the control group.Conclusion: In this study, our results supported this hypothesis that verbal and working memory impairment could be considered endophenotype of schizophrenia.

Background and Aim: Auditory-verbal mem-ory (AVM) is the ability to learn, retain, and recall syllables and words. memory has a strong relationship with the nervous and endocrine systems in humans. Changes in estrogen levels occur naturally at short (menstrual period) and long (pregnancy, menopause, and maturity) peri-ods. Changes in estrogen levels are likely to affect memory function. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of hormone fluctuations on the AVM of women. Methods: This cross-sectional study with a pretest/posttest design was conducted on 25 women aged 40−, 49 years with normal hearing and normal menstrual cycles of 28 ±,4 days, who were selected using a convenience sampling method. They were evaluated using two Persian versions of Rey Auditory-verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). This test was performed twice and at two different menstrual periods (2-5 and 14−, 16 days). Results: A significant correlation was observed between the mean of total recall score, recall score after interference, and delayed recall score at two different periods (p < 0. 01). The scores of women in three areas on days 14−, 16 of the menstrual cycle were higher than on days 2−, 5. Conclusion: Women’, s RAVLT scores on days 14−, 16 of the menstrual cycle are higher than on days 2−, 5, indicating the effect of hormonal fluc-tuations on their AVM function. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the changes in women’, s AVM in different days of the menstrual cycle.

Background and Aim: Auditory-verbal mem-ory and reading problems are frequently obser-ved in patients with vestibular disorders, but rarely considered as a cognitive consequence of vestibular disease. Many clinicians do not rec-ognize or ignore the psychological symptoms of vestibular disease. This approach could under-estimate the cognitive problems of the patients, or even led to misdiagnosis of a combined ves-tibular-cognitive condition. The current study aimed to assess the cognitive impact of acute vestibular disorders. Methods: A total of 71 patients with unilateral vestibular neuritis, Meniere’ s disease, and ben-ign paroxysmal positional vertigo underwent a through audiologic evaluation, including otos-copy, pure tone audiometry, tympanometry, vestibular evoked myogenic potentials, video-nystagmography plus caloric testing, and video head impulse testing in the plane of horizontal semicircular canals. After determination of the disease, the Persian version of the dizziness handicap inventory, the Persian reading test, and Rey Auditory-verbal learning test were admi-nistered. Results: There were no significant difference between the patient groups with regard to their inabilities like reading and learning problems according to their Auditory verbal memory score induced by acute vertigo. However, acute ver-tigo can reduce the reading ability and capacity of Auditory-verbal memory of the patients com-pared with normal subjects. Conclusion: Unilateral vestibular disorders in which patients suffer from acute rotatory vertigo could lead to reading difficulties and learning because of Auditory-verbal memory impairment. The exact mechanism of vestibular impairment is not a determinant factor for these cognitive problems.