Some Comparisons between Auditory Brain Stem Response Thresholds, Latencies, and the Pure-Tone Audiogram

Aspects of auditory brain stem responses (ABR) and pure-tone behavioral audiograms were compared in patients with cochlear hearing loss. Click-evoked ABR thresholds appeared to be related most closely to the audiometric thresholds at 2000 and 4000 Hz, with relatively poor agreement at either 1000 or 8000 Hz. These results were related to the amplitude spectrum of the eliciting stimulus. The slope of the wave V latency-intensity function appeared to be related to the configuration of the hearing loss. Patients with high-frequency sensorineural losses had steeper slopes than normal subjects, whereas patients with flat sensonneural losses had shallower slopes. These results were related to the principle that response latency is determined by the cochlear region that predominates the ABR for different stimulus intensities.