Abstract
With age regular changes take place in the latent periods of spikes of the slow auditory evoked potential. In particular, the latencies of the comparatively early waves (P1, N1, and P2) become progressively shortened. Between 3–7 and 8–13 years the decrease is 50–60 msec, and later it is 25–35 msec. The latencies of the latest waves, especially P3, N3, and P4, increase from 3–7 to 8–13 years by 35–65 msec. Later the latent period of the P3 spike remains unchanged but the N3 and P4 waves disappear completely. Of all the components of the slow auditory evoked potential the most stable is the N2 wave, the latent period of which decreases only very slightly with age. In children aged 3–7 years two wave complexes (P1N1P2 and P2N2P3) overlap frequently to form a single undifferentiated wave. This splits up into its components by 8 years of age. Long age changes in the shape and parameters of the slow auditory evoked potential are examined from the standpoint of the predominantly extralemniscal origin of this potential. On the basis of correlation discovered between the late waves of the evoked potential and the level of EEG synchronization it is postulated that the late waves of the slow evoked potential are formed with the participation of the nonspecific synchronizing system.
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Tbilisi State Postgraduate Medical Institute. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 3–10, January–February, 1977.
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Kevanishvili, Z.S., von Specht, H., Chkhartishvili, B.V. et al. Age changes in latent periods of the human slow auditory evoked potential. Neurophysiology 9, 1–7 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01063536
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01063536