Influence of stimulus intensity on AEP components in the 80- to 200-millisecond latency range

The influence of the intensity of passively perceived 1-kHz tones on the latencies and amplitudes of AEP components in the 80- to 200-ms latency range recorded from frontal, central and temporal electrode locations was investigated in healthy adult subjects. At stimulus intensities from 30 to 70 dB SL the latencies of the frontally and centrally recorded N100 and P175 waves decreased, their amplitudes increased. At stimulus intensities from 70 to 90 dB the latencies of N100 and P175 increased, N100 amplitude declined and P175 amplitude increased at a slower rate than between 30 and 70 dB. The latency of the N140 wave recorded at temporal electrode locations decreased markedly with increasing stimulus intensity.