Early Components of Averaged Evoked Responses to Rapidly Repeated Auditory Stimuli

1967 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 697-705 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Goldstein ◽  
Leslie B. Rodman

Averaged evoked responses to clicks were elicited from 20 normal-hearing subjects between the ages of 16 and 41. Two thousand clicks were presented to the right ear at the rate of 10 per sec at 60, 30, 10, 5, 0, −5, and −10 dB SL. Sensation levels were varied randomly. In each series two control conditions without stimulation were randomly interspersed. Electroencephalic potentials were recorded from an electrode on the vertex of the skull referred to the left earlobe. The response pattern was relatively consistent with a vertex-negative peak (N a ) at about 20–24 msec, and a vertex-positive peak (P a ) at about 31–35 msec. Another vertex-negative peak (N b ) at about 46–50 msec was seen less frequently. Criteria for response were established on the basis of the occurrence of N a and P a within prescribed latencies as well as the interval between the two peaks of about 12–13 msec. The number of identifiable responses diminished with diminishing sensation levels but responses were observed in about one-half of the subjects as low as −5 dB SL.

1969 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 351-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurice I. Mendel ◽  
Robert Goldstein

The early components of the averaged electroencephalic response (AER) were examined at three-hour intervals in eight normal hearing adults over a single, sleepless 24-hour span. During each of the eight sessions, three series of clicks at 50 dB SL were presented to the right ear of the subject as he sat reading. 1024 clicks at the rate of 9.6/sec were used in obtaining each averaged response. Electroencephalic activity was recorded from an electrode on the vertex referred to the left earlobe. The response pattern was very stable, characterized by a polyphasic configuration with mean peak latencies of (P o ) 13.3 msec, (N a ) 22.0 msec, (P a ) 32.3 msec, and (N b ) 45.1 msec. An earlier negative peak (N o ) with a mean peak latency of 8.3 msec occurred in many of the responses. At the conclusion of the 24-hour span, three of the subjects were tested with the same stimuli during various stages of sleep. The early components of the AER remained consistent even during sleep. Threshold searches were successfully carried out on two of the sleeping subjects. The long-term stability of the early components of the AER in the awake and sleep states makes them practical as a response index for electroencephalic audiometry. Their characteristics are more compatible with a neurogenic than with a myogenic theory of their origin.


1969 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 394-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Skinner ◽  
Frank Antinoro

Averaged evoked responses (AER) to auditory stimuli presented to young children and adults were compared between awake and induced sleep conditions. Eight adults and twenty preschool children with normal hearing were tested before and during sedation at two suprathreshold levels with tone pips centered at 510, 1020, and 2040 Hz. Responses obtained during sedation assumed a distinctly different wave complex than those obtained under the awake condition. The P2 peak that is most prominent in the AERs obtained from awake subjects was diminished considerably under sedation and P3 became the prominent peak. Moreover, the P3 peaks in the AERs obtained under sedation were of considerably greater amplitude than the P2 peaks obtained in the awake condition. In all cases where responses were obtained from awake subjects, greater amplitude responses were obtained during sedation. The use of sedation with the preschool children proved to be most important in obtaining more detectable responses and permitting evoked potential audiometry with otherwise unmanageable children.


1966 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lloyd L. Price ◽  
Benjamin Rosenblüt ◽  
Robert Goldstein ◽  
David C. Shepherd

Evoked responses of 160 normal-hearing subjects to auditory stimuli (clicks) were recorded, and data related to the latency, amplitude, and frequency of occurrence of various late components were studied. Negative peaks (vertex referred to earlobe) at 85 and 260 msec and a positive peak at 160 msec occurred often enough and with sufficient amplitude to be useful as indicators of response to auditory stimulation. Frequency of occurrence and latency did not appear related to the race, sex, or age of the subject nor to the side of the head from which the recording was taken. The amplitudes are related to these variables. White subjects gave larger responses than colored subjects, females gave larger responses than males, younger and older subjects gave larger responses than those in between, and the responses from the contralateral side of the head (re stimulated ear) tended to be larger than those from the ipsilateral side. Thresholds for the evoked response to clicks are very near voluntary thresholds for the same stimuli in normal-hearing young adults.


1977 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 752-765 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. Shepherd ◽  
Robin W. DeLavergne ◽  
Frank X. Frueh ◽  
Carol Clobridge

Significant product-moment correlations ranging from −0.90 to −0.91 were computed between a selected peak-latency in average visual electroencephalic responses and speechreading scores. Subjects were 20 adults with normal hearing and assumed normal vision who had had no formal training in the speechreading process. The negative peak selected as this study’s measure of visual-neural firing time occurs at an average of 130 msec from stimulus-onset in average visual electroencephalic responses evoked from either the right or left side of the head of normal adults. Speechreading measures included word and sentence scores obtained using a videotape of a female speaker presenting the 31 sentences that appear in the Utley Sentence Test of Lipreading Ability, Form B.


1982 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 521-527 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. Shepherd

In 1977, Shepherd and colleagues reported significant correlations (–.90, –.91) between speechreading scores and the latency of a selected negative peak (VN 130 measure) on the averaged visual electroencephalic wave form. The primary purpose of this current study was to examine the stability, or repeatability, of this relation between these cognitive and neurophysiologic measures over a period of several months and thus support its test-retest reliability. Repeated speechreading word and sentence scores were gathered during three test-retest sessions from each of 20 normal-hearing adults. An average of 56 days occurred from the end of one to the beginning of another speechreading sessions. During each of four other test-retest sessions, averaged visual electroencephalic responses (AVER s ) were evoked from each subject. An average of 49 clays intervened between AVER sessions. Product-moment correlations computed among repeated word scores and VN l30 measures ranged from –.61 to –.89. Based on these findings, it was concluded that the VN l30 measure of visual neural firing time is a reliable correlate of speech-reading in normal-hearing adults.


Cephalalgia ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (7) ◽  
pp. 1245-1256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleonora Vecchio ◽  
Eleonora Gentile ◽  
Giovanni Franco ◽  
Katia Ricci ◽  
Marina de Tommaso

Background Transcutaneous external supraorbital nerve stimulation has emerged as a treatment option for primary headache disorders, though its action mechanism is still unclear. Study aim In this randomized, sham-controlled pilot study we aimed to test the effects of a single external transcutaneous nerve stimulation session on pain perception and cortical responses induced by painful laser stimuli delivered to the right forehead and the right hand in a cohort of migraine without aura patients and healthy controls. Methods Seventeen migraine without aura patients and 21 age- and sex-matched controls were selected and randomly assigned to a real or sham external transcutaneous nerve stimulation single stimulation session. The external transcutaneous nerve stimulation was delivered with a self-adhesive electrode placed on the forehead and generating a 60 Hz pulse at 16 mA intensity for 20 minutes. For sham stimulation, we used 2 mA intensity. Laser evoked responses were recorded from 21 scalp electrodes in basal condition (T0), during external transcutaneous nerve stimulation and sham stimulation (T1), and immediately after these (T2). The laser evoked responses were analyzed by LORETA software. Results The real external transcutaneous nerve stimulation reduced the trigeminal N2P2 amplitude in migraine and control groups significantly in respect to placebo. The real stimulation was associated with lower activity in the anterior cingulate cortex under trigeminal laser stimuli. The pattern of LEP-reduced habituation was reverted by real and sham transcutaneous stimulation in migraine patients. Conclusions The present results could suggest that the external transcutaneous nerve stimulation may interfere with the threshold and the extent of trigeminal system activation, with a mechanism of potential utility in the resolution and prevention of migraine attacks.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thirsa Huisman ◽  
Axel Ahrens ◽  
Ewen MacDonald

To reproduce realistic audio-visual scenarios in the laboratory, Ambisonics is often used to reproduce a sound field over loudspeakers and virtual reality (VR) glasses are used to present visual information. Both technologies have been shown to be suitable for research. However, the combination of both technologies, Ambisonics and VR glasses, might affect the spatial cues for auditory localization and thus, the localization percept. Here, we investigated how VR glasses affect the localization of virtual sound sources on the horizontal plane produced using either 1st-, 3rd-, 5th- or 11th-order Ambisonics with and without visual information. Results showed that with 1st-order Ambisonics the localization error is larger than with the higher orders, while the differences across the higher orders were small. The physical presence of the VR glasses without visual information increased the perceived lateralization of the auditory stimuli by on average about 2°, especially in the right hemisphere. Presenting visual information about the environment and potential sound sources did reduce this HMD-induced shift, however it could not fully compensate for it. While the localization performance itself was affected by the Ambisonics order, there was no interaction between the Ambisonics order and the effect of the HMD. Thus, the presence of VR glasses can alter acoustic localization when using Ambisonics sound reproduction, but visual information can compensate for most of the effects. As such, most use cases for VR will be unaffected by these shifts in the perceived location of the auditory stimuli.


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (03) ◽  
pp. e276-e280
Author(s):  
Gleide Viviani Maciel Almeida ◽  
Angela Ribas ◽  
Jorge Calleros

Introduction Even people with normal hearing may have difficulties locating a sound source in unfavorable sound environments where competitive noise is intense. Objective To develop, describe, validate and establish the normality curve of the sound localization test. Method The sample consisted of 100 healthy subjects with normal hearing, > 18 years old, who agreed to participate in the study. The sound localization test was applied after the subjects underwent a tonal audiometry exam. For this purpose, a calibrated free field test environment was set up. Then, 30 random pure tones were presented in 2 speakers placed at 45° (on the right and on the left sides of the subject), and the noise was presented from a 3rd speaker, placed at 180°. The noise was presented in 3 hearing situations: optimal listening condition (no noise), noise in relation to 0 dB, and noise in relation to - 10 dB. The subject was asked to point out the side where the pure tone was being perceived, even in the presence of noise. Results All of the 100 participants performed the test in an average time of 99 seconds. The average score was 21, the medium score was 23, and the standard deviation was 3.05. Conclusion The sound localization test proved to be easy to set-up and to apply. The results obtained in the validation of the test suggest that individuals with normal hearing should locate 70% of the presented stimuli. The test can constitute an important instrument in the measurement of noise interference in the ability to locate the sound.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 236-243
Author(s):  
Fahad H Alhazmi

Aim The association between hearing acuity and white-matter (WM) microstructure integrity was evaluated in a normal healthy population with a variety of hearing acuity using an automated tractography technique known as TRACULA (TRActs Constrained by UnderLying Anatomy) in order to investigate whether hearing acuity decline is correlated with brain structural connectivity. Methods Forty healthy controls were recruited to this study, which used a Siemens 3T Trio with a standard eight-channel head coil. Hearing acuity was assessed using pure-tone air conduction audiometry (Amplivox 2160, with Audiocups to eliminate noise and allow accurate pure-tone audiometry). Handedness and anxiety and depression were assessed for all participants in this study using the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, respectively. Results This study showed a significant reduction in WM volume of the left cingulum angular bundle (CAB; t = 2.32, p = 0.02) in the mild to moderate hearing-loss group (238 ± 223 mm2) compared to the group with normal hearing (105  ± 121 mm2). The WM integrity of the left CAB was found to be significantly different ( t = 2.06, p = 0.04) in the mild to moderate hearing-loss group (0.18 ± 0.06 mm2/s) compared to the group with normal hearing (0.22 ± 0.05 mm2/s). The WM integrity of the left anterior thalamic radiation (ATR) was found to be significantly different ( t = 2.58, p = 0.014) in the mild to moderate hearing-loss group (0.33 ± 0.05 mm2/s) compared to the group with normal hearing (0.37 ± 0.03 mm2/s). A significant negative correlation was found between age and the WM integrity of the right ATR ( r = −0.33, p = 0.038), and between hearing acuity and the WM integrity of the right ATR ( r = −0.38, p = 0.013) and left CAB ( r = −0.36, p = 0.019). Discussion and conclusion: An important finding in this study is that brain structural connectivity changes in the left hemisphere seem to be associated with age-related hearing loss found mainly in the ATR and CAB tracts.


1991 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 427-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald A. Studebaker ◽  
Robert L. Sherbecoe

Frequency-importance and transfer functions for the Technisonic Studios’ recordings of the CID W-22 word test are reported. These functions may be used to calculate Articulation Index (Al) values or to predict scores on the W-22 test. The functions were derived from the word recognition scores of 8 normal-hearing listeners who were tested under 308 conditions of filtering and masking. The importance function for the W-22 test has a broader frequency range and a different shape than the importance function used in the current ANSI standard on the Articulation Index (ANSI, 1969). The transfer function is similar in slope to to the ANSI transfer function for 256 PB-words, but is shifted to the right of that function by 0.05 Al.


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