Hearing examination protocol:

1. Hearing-related health questionnaire administration
2. Otoscopy
3. Tympanometry with acoustic reflexes at 1000 Hz
4. Pure-tone air-conduction (AC) and bone-conduction (BC) audiometry
5. Speech recognition thresholds (SRTs)
6. Dichotic digits testing (DDT)
7. Distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs)
8. Auditory brainstem responses (ABRs)

 

Imaging protocol:

1. High-resolution (1x1x1 mm³) structural MRI
2. Task based FMRI design with sparse temporal acquisitions (STA) is employed where the child is presented low (0.5 kHz), middle (1.5 kHz) or high (4 kHz) frequencies to the left right ear, separately
3. Resting state FMRI protocol consists of 180 measurements from the primary auditory cortex, secondary auditory cortices, and the insula
4. DTI measures from the vestibulocochlear nerve as it exits the cochlea, tracking fibers through the brainstem and midbrain to the ipsilateral primary auditory cortex

 

Neuropsychological protocol:

1. Mental Processing Index (MPI)
2. Nonverbal Index (NVI)
3. Sequential processing (working memory),
4. Simultaneous processing (visual-spatial processing and problem solving)
5. Learning (immediate and delayed memory)
6. Planning (executive reasoning)

 

HIV variables:

1. HIV disease severity 
   1. Current plasma HIV RNA concentration (HIV viral load) 
   2. Peak HIV viral load 
   3. Age at virological suppression
   4. Current CD4%
   5. Current CD4 count 
   6. Current CD4/CD8 
   7. Nadir CD4%
   8. NadirCD$ count
   9. Nadir CD4/CD8 ratio 
   10. CDC and WHO Disease Classification 
2. ART Medications 
   1. Age at first cART 
   2. Presence and duration of interruption over lifetime
   3. Current exposure to ART by ART drug classes 
      1. nucleoside reverse transcriptase (NTIs) 
      2. non-NRTIs (NNRTIs) 
      3. Protease inhibitors (PIs) 
   4. Age at initiation of current regimen 
   5. Duration of NRTI 
   6. Duration of NNRTI
   7. Duration of PI