Effect of repetition rate on middle latency auditory evoked potentials in humans

Middle Latency Auditory Evoked Potentials (MLAEPs) were recorded from 15 healthy subjects in order to evaluate the influence of different repetition rates on the latency and the amplitude of their main components Na, Pa and Nb. MLAEPs were obtained from Cz-ipsilateral ear lobe by averaging responses to 2000 monaural clicks delivered to both ears, at 65 dB SL of intensity, for each of 3 different repetition rates (1.1, 4.1, 8.1 Hz). Time base was 100 ms, analogical band-pass filter 5-1000 Hz (off-line digital bandpass: 20-100 Hz). The statistical analysis (repeated measures analysis of variance), demonstrated that, the latency and the amplitude of the Nb component were slightly influenced by repetition rate while Pa and Na were not. Moreover Nb showed the greatest interindividual variability (as already pointed out by other authors too); thus, we suggest that a stimulus rate of 8.1 Hz and the analysis of Na and Pa component only, can be regarded as the best assessment for MLAEPs evaluation when they are used for clinical purposes