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Biomedical subjects

K E Spens

Publications and source records attributed to K E Spens.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Topography of auditory evoked long-latency potentials in normal children, with particular reference to the N1 component.

Topographic maps of late auditory evoked potentials were obtained with the Brain Atlas III system in 34 healthy, normal hearing children aged 8-16 years. The stimulus was a 100 msec, 500 Hz tone burst, presented separately to the left and right ears, at 75 dB HL. The resulting auditory evoked potentials showed a prominent N1, after about 100 msec, and a topographic map with a corresponding fronto-lateral focus designated as the focus of N1 (FN1). Foci with varying positions and amplitudes were identified in 33 of 34 subjects after left ear stimulation and in 29 of 32 subjects after right ear stimulation. The topography showed a high degree of stability in most subjects, with the position of the negative "peak" of FN1 in front of the interaural line and with a dominance contralateral to the ear stimulated. There was a significant decrease in the latency of N1 with increasing age. FN1 tended to change position with age and some differences from adults were also observed. In conclusion, a distinct topographic pattern of the N1 component of the late auditory evoked potentials was seen in the majority of children. It remains to be established to what extent this method may be clinically useful for disclosing functional disturbances in the central auditory pathways.

Acoustic Stimulation

Auditory stimulation brain map.

The topography of auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) was studied in 12 neurologically normal, adult, right-handed subjects of either sex. The AEPs were recorded with seventeen active electrodes in response to 500 Hz tone bursts with a level of 75 dB HL presented either to the left or the right ear. AEP brain maps were obtained with the BRAIN ATLAS III system. A region of maximum negativity was obtained corresponding to N1 at vertex and defined as focus of N1 (FN1). The reproducibility within and between sessions of FN1 was studied and found to be good for most of the subjects. The interindividual variability was moderate and the centre of FN1 on the map was localized 7 mm in front of the vertex electrode and 8.4 and 8.0 mm to the contralateral side of the vertex electrode upon stimulation of the left and the right ear, respectively. The approximate position of the skull surface is obtained by multiplication by a factor of 3. It was concluded that a standardized test session including six single maps based on 50 stimuli each gives an average map with identifiable and reproducible focus. The basis seems to be fulfilled to use the brain map in further analysis on clinical material.

Adult

Auditory brain map, effects of age.

Brain maps of late auditory evoked cortical potentials were obtained with the Brain Atlas III system in school-aged children and adults. All subjects were judged as neurologically normal, right-handed, and having normal hearing. The stimulus was a 100 ms burst of 500 Hz pure tone at 75 dB HL presented separately to the left and right ear. The results showed a frontoparietal maximum of negative activity corresponding to N1 and designated as the focus of N1 (FN1). FN1 had latencies of 108 ms (left stimulation (stim] and 113 ms (right stim) and amplitudes of -6.0 microV (left stim) and -4.8 microV (right stim) in children and a latency of 90 ms and an amplitude of -6.5 microV in adults. Among the children, more had ipsilateral than contralateral FN1, usually on the right side. The distance between the centers of gravity of FN1s obtained on stimulation of the two ears was significantly smaller in the maps of children than adults (p less than 0.01). The present findings indicated that the topography of the electrical activity changes during adolescence.

Adult