The adaptive pattern of the late auditory evoked potential elicited by repeated stimuli in cochlear implant users

To describe the adaptive pattern of cortically generated auditory evoked potentials elicited by repeated stimuli via cochlear implants (CIs), the late auditory evoked potential (LAEP) was collected from nine postlingually deafened adult CI users. Tone bursts were presented in 30 trains consisting of 10 tone bursts each, with inter-stimulus intervals (ISIs) of 0.7 ms and inter-train intervals (ITIs) of 15s. The response to the first stimulus and the response to later tone bursts in the train were compared. Results showed that the LAEP for the first tone burst was larger than that for later tone bursts, displaying an adaptive pattern. This pattern appeared to be more prominent in CI users with good speech perception performance than in those with poorer performance. This finding is meaningful in the context of our future research to restore normal adaptation in CI users to improve their speech perception performance.