Power spectral analysis of auditory brain stem responses to pure tone stimuli

Power spectral analysis and digital filtration of the auditory brain stem responses to tone burst stimuli were carried out in three adult subjects with normal hearing. Three dominant peaks (peaks A. B, C), ranging in frequency 50-150, 500-600, and 1000-1100 Hz, were observed in the spectrograms of the responses to 4 kHz at 80 dB SL. Power of higher frequency components (peaks B and C) decreased markedly or disappeared completely with decreased intensity as well as decreased frequency of stimulus, while peak A around 100 Hz consistently appeared regardless of stimulus intensity or frequency. Main spectral components of the individual waves in the ABR were determined as follows: peak A for the slow positive deflection in the response, peak B for waves VI and VII, peak C for waves II and IV, and peaks B and C for waves I, III and V.