The effect of stimulus choice on cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEP): consideration of speech segment positioning within naturally produced speech.
OBJECTIVE
Cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) can be elicited to stimuli generated from different parts of speech. The aim of this study was to compare the phoneme /ʃ/ from word medial and word initial positions and its influence on the CAEP.


METHODS
Stimuli from word medial positions were found to have shorter rise times compared to the same phonemes from word initial positions. A repeated measures design was carried out with CAEPs elicited using /ʃ/ from a word initial and a word medial position.


METHODS
Sixteen individuals with audiometric thresholds within normal limits participated in the study.


RESULTS
Stimuli /ʃ/ from a word medial position elicited CAEPs with significantly larger amplitudes and shorter latencies compared to /ʃ/ from a word initial position (p < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Findings from this study, incorporating naturally produced speech sounds, suggest the need to consider spectral and temporal variations when choosing stimuli to optimize the amplitude and latency characteristics of the CAEP. Overall, findings illustrate good test-retest reliability of CAEP measures using speech stimuli with clinical equipment.
National Centre for Audiology and Program in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (Hearing Sciences), Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. veaswar@uwo.ca
Vijayalakshmi
V
Easwar
Danielle
D
Glista
David W
DW
Purcell
Susan D
SD
Scollie
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001302:Audiometry, Speech / Q000379:methods*; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010700:Phonetics; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011930:Reaction Time; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013067:Speech Perception; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult