title: Maturational time course of the envelope following response to amplitude-modulated acoustic signals in rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The maturation pattern of the envelope following response (EFR) was described using rats as an experimental model.
  
  
  METHODS
  EFRs were recorded in animals at different postnatal ages (15, 20, 25, 35, and 70 postnatal days) in response to broadband noise (BBN) and tones of 8000 and 4000 Hz modulated in amplitude using a continuous sweep of modulation frequencies. Responses were analysed in the 90-190 Hz modulation frequency (MF) range.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty individuals (eight individuals for each age bracket) were included in the present study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During maturation, the MF at which the maximum amplitude was obtained (BMF, best modulation frequency) shifted to higher values when animals were stimulated with tones. At the same time, the amplitude of the response at the BMF increased. For every group of animals, the amplitude of the response continuously decreased for MFs higher than the BMF. However, less steep decreases of amplitude were obtained as animals became adults.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results provide normative data regarding the maturation of the EFR in rats. They provide information for the development of predictor models to estimate the temporal resolution of the auditory system during maturation.
authors.affiliation: Cuban Neuroscience Center, Havana, Cuba. pavel@cneuro.edu.cu
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Prado-Gutierrez
authors.forename: Eleina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mijares
authors.forename: Guillermo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Savio
authors.forename: Mayelin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Borrego
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Martínez-Montes
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Torres
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000367:Age Factors; D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D001300:Audiometry, Evoked Response; D001306:Auditory Pathways / Q000254:growth & development*; D001307:Auditory Perception; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D013997:Time Factors; D013998:Time Perception