Case studies in neuroscience: subcortical origins of the frequency-following response

The auditory frequency-following response (FFR) reflects synchronized and phase-locked activity along the auditory pathway in response to sound. Although FFRs were historically thought to reflect subcortical activity, recent evidence suggests an auditory cortex contribution as well. Here we present electrophysiological evidence for the FFR's origins from two cases: a patient with bilateral auditory cortex lesions and a patient with auditory neuropathy, a condition of subcortical origin. The patient with auditory cortex lesions had robust and replicable FFRs, but no cortical responses. In contrast, the patient with auditory neuropathy had no FFR despite robust and replicable cortical responses. This double dissociation shows that subcortical synchrony is necessary and sufficient to generate an FFR.NEW & NOTEWORTHY The frequency-following response (FFR) reflects synchronized and phase-locked neural activity in response to sound.  The authors present a dual case study, comparing FFRs and cortical potentials between a patient with auditory neuropathy (a condition of subcortical origin) and a patient with bilateral auditory cortex lesions. They show that subcortical synchrony is necessary and sufficient to generate an FFR.