Speech-evoked brainstem responses in Arabic and Hebrew speakers

Based on studies in English speakers, it has been proposed that speech-evoked brainstem responses (ABRs) may be used clinically to assess central auditory function. Whether the same procedure can be used across speakers of different languages remains unclear, because recent findings suggest that language experience affects even subcortical processing of speech. The goal of the present study was to characterize brainstem responses to the syllable /da/ in Arabic and Hebrew speakers using the US developed BioMARK procedure. To that end, ABRs evoked by clicks and the syllable /da/ were collected from 37 normal-hearing students from the University of Haifa. Neither the transient nor the sustained components of the brainstem response differed significantly between Arabic and Hebrew speakers. Across the two groups, timing of the major components of the speech-evoked response as well as the correlations between the speech- and click indices were well within the US norms. Therefore, brainstem processing of the syllable /da/ does not differ between speakers of English and speakers of Semitic languages such as Arabic and Hebrew.