The auditory brainstem response

Authors: J J Eggermont P H Schmidt

Publish Date: 1990

Volume: , Issue: , Pages: 41-77

PDF Link

Abstract

In evoked potential work the action of the inner ear is too often ignored and seen only as the necessary mechanism for obtaining responses to auditory stimuli In discussions this cochlear action is furthermore reduced to only the action of the basal part of the cochlea since popular belief is that click evoked potentials EP are only mediated by the high frequency fibers emanating from this part of the cochlea Subsequently the opinion is heard that no matter what stimulus is used one can only test the integrity of this basal part of the cochlea This of course is not the case and introduction dedicated to those aspects of cochlear and auditory nervous system physiology appears necessary for the interpretation of auditory brainstem responses ABR We will observe that the application in neurology is straightforward when one is only concerned with the distinction normal vs abnormal brainstem The difficulties arise when false positives ie diagnosing an abnormality of the brainstem when in fact it is normal resulting from cochlear abnormalities have to be eliminated For this important purpose alone an understanding of cochlear action and its influence on the generation and the interpretation of the ABR is indicated

Keywords: