Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 7, 2026

Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations
Published on: July 1, 2015
The temporal relationship between speech auditory brainstem responses and the acoustic pattern of the phoneme /ba/ in
Objective:
To investigate the temporal relationship between speech auditory brainstem responses and acoustic pattern of the phoneme /ba/.
Methods:
Speech elicited auditory brainstem responses (Speech ABR) to /ba/ were recorded in 23 normal-hearing subjects. Effect of stimulus intensity was assessed on Speech ABR components latencies in 11 subjects. The effect of different transducers on electromagnetic leakage was also measured.
Results:
Speech ABR showed a reproducible onset response (OR) 6ms after stimulus onset. The frequency following response (FFR) waveform mimicked the 500Hz low pass filtered temporal waveform of phoneme /ba/ with a latency shift of 14.6ms. In addition, the OR and FFR latencies decreased with increasing stimulus intensity, with a greater rate for FFR (-1.4ms/10dB) than for OR (-0.6ms/10dB).
Conclusions:
A close relationship was found between the pattern of the acoustic stimulus and the FFR temporal structure. Furthermore, differences in latency behaviour suggest different generation mechanisms for FFR and OR.
Significance:
The results provided further insight into the temporal encoding of basic speech stimulus at the brainstem level in humans.
Related Concept Videos
Hearing
The Cochlea
Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location
Place theory, or place coding, suggests that different pitches are heard because various sound waves activate specific locations along the cochlea's basilar membrane. The brain determines the pitch of a sound by identifying...
Auditory Pathway
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking the...

