Differences in brainstem response latency with age and sex

Brainstem evoked potentials in response to clicks at 60dB, 70dB and 80dB were recorded from a group of 70 normally hearing subjects. There were 10 subjects (5 male, 5 female) for each of the decades from the second to the eighth. The youngest subject was 14 years, the oldest 79 years. The possibility of there being increased latencies as a function of age was examined. The results indicated that there was, for practical purposes, no such increase. On the other hand there was very strong evidence that in females latenceis are shorter than in males. In addition, amplitudes were reduced in the case of older subjects. Condifidence limits for latency were calculated. These may be helpful in deciding whether or not a particular latency is outside the normal range.