Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 8, 2026
14:05
Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses
Published on: January 23, 2017
Multiple auditory steady-state response thresholds to bone-conduction stimuli in young infants with normal hearing
Susan A Small1, David R Stapells
1School of Audiology and Speech Sciences, the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. ssmall@audiospeech.ubc.ca
Ear and Hearing
|May 5, 2006
Summary
Infant bone-conduction auditory steady-state responses (ASSRs) differ significantly from adult thresholds, with low frequencies worsening and high frequencies improving as infants mature. These findings are crucial for developing infant hearing tests.
Area of Science:
- Audiology
- Neuroscience
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Auditory steady-state responses (ASSRs) are vital for infant hearing threshold estimation.
- Limited bone-conduction ASSR data exists for infants, hindering diagnostic test battery development.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate bone-conduction ASSR thresholds in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and young infants.
- Compare infant bone-conduction ASSR thresholds with adult data.
Main Methods:
- Obtained bone-conduction ASSR thresholds using multiple stimuli in preterm (N=29) and postterm (N=14) infants.
- Compared infant ASSR thresholds, amplitudes, and phase delays with existing adult data.
Main Results:
- Infants showed significantly better low-frequency (500-1000 Hz) and poorer high-frequency (2000-4000 Hz) bone-conduction ASSR thresholds than adults.
- Infant ASSR amplitudes were larger at low frequencies; phase delays were later compared to adults.
Conclusions:
- Infant bone-conduction ASSR thresholds show distinct maturation-related differences from adults.
- Skull maturation and NICU noise may explain differences in preterm infants.
Related Concept Videos
01:13The Cochlea
The cochlea is a coiled structure in the inner ear that contains hair cells—the sensory receptors of the auditory system. Sound waves are transmitted to the cochlea by small bones attached to the eardrum called the ossicles, which vibrate the oval window that leads to the inner ear. This causes fluid in the chambers of the cochlea to move, vibrating the basilar membrane.
01:15Auditory Pathway
Auditory pathways constitute the complex neural circuits responsible for transmitting and interpreting auditory information from the peripheral auditory system to the brain. Sound waves are initially captured by the outer ear, funneled through the ear canal, and reach the tympanic membrane (eardrum). These vibrations are transmitted via the middle ear's ossicles to the inner ear's cochlea.
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking the...
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking the...