The dependence of early acoustically evoked potentials on age

Early acoustically evoked potentials (brain-stem potentials, latency up to 10 ms) were compared in two groups of varying age (25 and 63 years old, respectively). Although no age-dependent change in potential amplitudes was detected, a significantly longer latency period in older subjects was established for potentials III, IV, V, and VII at all levels of stimulus intensity. However, the difference in latency time between two consecutive responses shows that potentials IV and VI followed more quickly in the older than in the younger persons. An explanation of this discovery is attempted.