Obligatory cortical auditory evoked potential waveform detection and differentiation using a commercially available clinical system: HEARLab™

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to investigate detection and differentiation of obligatory cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) in normal-hearing listeners with and without a simulated conductive hearing impairment using the HEARLab™. DESIGN: Sound field CAEPs were obtained from 24 normal-hearing adults, with and without earplugs, using three natural speech sounds (/m/, /g/, and /t/) presented at 55, 65, and 75 dB SPL. RESULTS: Response detection was good except for the lowest presentation level; however, differentiation of waveforms was generally poor for individual listeners. CONCLUSIONS: Waveform differentiation was relatively poor, especially at low presentation levels, using the HEARLab's stimulus and analysis protocol. Copyright © 2011 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.