Auditory steady-state responses--rate effects across adult lifespan

描述 瞬态诱发电位分析方法提供了一种被广泛接受的方法来识别和测量成分听觉诱发电位（AEP）。然而，为了观察正常的大脑发育/衰老，需要向客观化AEP解释的过程进行范式转变。为了实现这一目标，已经从稳态分析方法的使用发展到对诱发反应的更分析的方法的转变，稳态分析方法潜在地提供了更分析和客观的方法，并且其优点可以很好地服务于诸如跟踪老化变化和/或脑损伤的影响的兴趣，即，如果 该方法被扩展以结合AEP分量波的更全面的表示。这种新方法已被应用，并且在幼儿和成人中的发现证明了该方法的有效性，即在统一的测试和分析中，而不是几种不同的瞬态测试，其中响应识别和测量或多或少对每个组件测试具有特异性。 拟议的研究在逻辑上建立在以前的研究基础上，并作为探索这种统一的测试和分析的背景（即，三个年龄段）。将在包括传统测量的瞬态AEP在内的广泛刺激重复率范围内评估稳态反应幅度。特别感兴趣的是由来自听觉皮层（< 20 Hz）的活动主导的ASSR以及在三个中线、两个侧电极和两个颞电极处的年龄依赖性分布和频谱模式。此外，将检查稳态记录参数和受试者相关特征，以确定它们的行为是否与瞬态AEP类似。

DESCRIPTION The transient-evoked potential-analysis approach provides a broadly accepted way to identify and measure component auditory evoked potentials (AEPs). However, for purposes of looking across normal brain development/aging, there is a need for a paradigm shift toward a process that objectifies AEP interpretation. Toward this goal, a shift toward a more analytical method to the evoked response has been developed from the use of a steady-state-analysis approach, which potentially provides a more analytical and objective approach and whose advantages may well serve such interests as tracking aging changes and/or effects of brain injury, that is- if the approach is extended to incorporate a more comprehensive representation of the AEP component waves. This new method has been applied, and findings in young children and adults demonstrate efficacy of the method, namely in a unified test and analysis, rather than several different transient tests with response identification and measurement more-or-less idiosyncratic to each component test. The proposed study builds logically on this previous research, and serves as a backdrop to explore this unified test and analysis across the adult lifespan (i.e., three age groups). Steady-state response amplitudes will be assessed over a wide range of stimulus repetition rates embracing the traditionally measured transient AEPs. Of particular interest are ASSRs dominated by activity from the auditory cortices (< 20 Hz) and the age- dependent distribution and spectral patterns at three midline, two lateral and two temporal electrodes. In addition, steady-state recording parameters and subject-related characteristics will be examined to determine if they behave similarly to their transient-AEP counterparts.