title: Stability and plasticity of auditory brainstem function across the lifespan.
abstract: The human auditory brainstem is thought to undergo rapid developmental changes early in life until age ∼2 followed by prolonged stability until aging-related changes emerge. However, earlier work on brainstem development was limited by sparse sampling across the lifespan and/or averaging across children and adults. Using a larger dataset than past investigations, we aimed to trace more subtle variations in auditory brainstem function that occur normally from infancy into the eighth decade of life. To do so, we recorded auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) to a click stimulus and a speech syllable (da) in 586 normal-hearing healthy individuals. Although each set of ABR measures (latency, frequency encoding, response consistency, nonstimulus activity) has a distinct developmental profile, across all measures developmental changes were found to continue well past age 2. In addition to an elongated developmental trajectory and evidence for multiple auditory developmental processes, we revealed a period of overshoot during childhood (5-11 years old) for latency and amplitude measures, when the latencies are earlier and the amplitudes are greater than the adult value. Our data also provide insight into the capacity for experience-dependent auditory plasticity at different stages in life and underscore the importance of using age-specific norms in clinical and experimental applications.
authors.affiliation: Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory Department of Communication Sciences Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA Current address: Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Faculty Affiliate of the Department of Psychology, Faculty Affiliate of the Cognitive Sciences Program, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA.
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Skoe
authors.affiliation: Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory Department of Communication Sciences Bilingualism and Psycholinguistics Research Group Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Krizman
authors.affiliation: Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory Department of Communication Sciences Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA Current address: Department of Hearing and Speech Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
authors.forename: Samira
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.affiliation: Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory Department of Communication Sciences Institute for Neuroscience Department of Neurobiology and Physiology Department of Otolaryngology Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kraus
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004569:Electroencephalography; D016057:Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013060:Speech; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: auditory; auditory brainstem response; development