Auditory evoked responses in clinical populations and in the cat

An overview is presented of auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) and middle- and long-latency auditory evoked responses recorded from clinical populations and from an experimental model, the cat. The research strategy of this program is to use auditory evoked responses as surface probes of central auditory processing functions and of substrate systems. Comparisons of ABRs between normal and mentally handicapped populations indicate specific types of abnormalities in particular subpopulations. Generator substrates of these responses have been suggested from analytical animal experiments. Middle- and long-latency responses are now beginning to be compared in normal and mentally handicapped subjects. Experimental data from the cat suggest that these responses reflect the relatively independent activation of several parallel forebrain systems which receive input from brainstem levels.