Acquisition and analysis of high rate deconvolved auditory evoked potentials during sleep

Auditory Evoked Potentials (AEPs) have been recorded at high stimulus rates during sleep using Continuous Loop Averaging Deconvolution (CLAD) sequences. AEP transient signals are obtained via frequency domain deconvolution of overlapped responses. Simultaneous acquisition of Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR), Middle Latency Response (MLR), and Long Latency Response (LLR) is obtained at an average stimulation rate of 39.1 Hz, using 10, 20 and 100 second electroencephalography (EEG) recordings. Deconvolved responses confirm previous observations on the reduction and disappearance of the P1 MLR component during stage III and IV, obtained with standard averaging and stimulation methods. Results indicate that auditory stimulation at high rates during sleep, using short time sweeps, may help correlating the sleep EEG indicative of different arousal levels, with corresponding AEPs.