Maturation of long latency auditory evoked potentials in hearing children: systematic review

To analyze how Auditory Long Latency Evoked Potentials (LLAEP) change according to age in children population through a systematic literature review.

After formulation of the research question, a bibliographic survey was done in five data bases with the following descriptors: Electrophysiology (Eletrofisiologia), Auditory Evoked Potentials (Potenciais Evocados Auditivos), Child (Criança), Neuronal Plasticity (Plasticidade Neuronal) and Audiology (Audiologia).

Level 1 evidence articles, published between 1995 and 2015 in Brazilian Portuguese or English language.

Aspects related to emergence, morphology and latency of P1, N1, P2 and N2 components were analyzed.

A total of 388 studies were found; however, only 21 studies contemplated the established criteria. P1 component is characterized as the most frequent component in young children, being observed around 100-150 ms, which tends to decrease as chronological age increases. The N2 component was shown to be the second most commonly observed component in children, being observed around 200-250 ms.. The other N1 and P2 components are less frequent and begin to be seen and recorded throughout the maturational process.

The maturation of LLAEP occurs gradually, and the emergence of P1, N1, P2 and N2 components as well as their latency values are variable in childhood. P1 and N2 components are the most observed and described in pediatric population. The diversity of protocols makes the comparison between studies difficult.