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Updated: Jan 4, 2026

A Method for Tracking the Time Evolution of Steady-State Evoked Potentials
Published on: May 25, 2019
Evolving perspectives on the sources of the frequency-following response
Emily B J Coffey1,2,3, Trent Nicol4, Travis White-Schwoch4
1Department of Psychology, Concordia University, 1455 Boulevard de Maisonneuve Ouest, Montréal, QC, H3G 1M8, Canada. emily.coffey@concordia.ca.
Abstract:
The auditory frequency-following response (FFR) is a non-invasive index of the fidelity of sound encoding in the brain, and is used to study the integrity, plasticity, and behavioral relevance of the neural encoding of sound. In this Perspective, we review recent evidence suggesting that, in humans, the FFR arises from multiple cortical and subcortical sources, not just subcortically as previously believed, and we illustrate how the FFR to complex sounds can enhance the wider field of auditory neuroscience. Far from being of use only to study basic auditory processes, the FFR is an uncommonly multifaceted response yielding a wealth of information, with much yet to be tapped.
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