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Brain stem auditory-evoked responses in premature infants
Journal of Speech and Hearing Research
|September 1, 1975
Insights
Brain stem auditory-evoked responses in infants show latency changes with sound intensity and age. This auditory function test may aid in evaluating high-risk newborns.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Audiology
- Developmental Pediatrics
Background:
- Assessing auditory function in newborns is crucial for early detection of hearing impairments.
- Brain stem auditory-evoked responses (BAERs) offer an objective measure of auditory pathway integrity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the characteristics of brain stem auditory-evoked responses in infants.
- To determine the relationship between response latency, stimulus intensity, and infant age.
- To evaluate the potential of BAERs for assessing auditory function in high-risk newborns.
Main Methods:
- Brain stem auditory-evoked responses were recorded in 24 infants.
- Infants' ages ranged from six-weeks premature to term.
- Stimulus intensity was varied to observe changes in response latency.
Main Results:
- At a given age, response latency increased as stimulus intensity decreased.
- With increasing age, there was a consistent decrease in response latency across all sound intensity levels.
- The observed responses were independent of infant fatigue or sleep stage.
Conclusions:
- Brain stem auditory-evoked response latency is influenced by both stimulus intensity and infant maturation.
- BAERs provide a reliable method for evaluating auditory pathway function in developing infants.
- This technique holds promise for the audiological assessment of high-risk newborn populations.
Abstract:
Brain stem auditory-evoked responses were recorded in 24 infants ranging in age from six-weeks premature to term. At a given age, the latency of the response increased with decreasing stimulus intensity. Further, as age increased, there was a systematic decrease in latency of the response at each sound intensity level. The response was shown not to be fatigue or sleep stage. It may, therefore, be of use for evaluating auditory function in high-risk newborn infants.