RELIABILITY OF AUDITORY BRAIN-STEM RESPONSES FROM SEQUENCED HIGH-FREQUENCY (GREATER-THAN-OR-EQUAL-TO-8KHZ) TONEBURSTS

An auditory brainstem response method is described for evoking respons es to 4 high-frequency (8, 10, 12 and 14 kHz) tonebursts in the same a mount of time normally required to obtain responses to single toneburs ts. Reliability of responses to high-frequency toneburst stimuli prese nted in the conventional manner (one at a time) has been previously do cumented. In the present study, high-frequency tonebursts were present ed to 20 normal-hearing subjects singly and in a 4-stimulus sequence. The reliability of resulting responses did not differ significantly be tween single- and multiple-stimulus test conditions. It is concluded t hat this sequenced-stimulus concept could be developed for use in seri al monitoring of individuals receiving ototoxic agents as well as bein g broadly applicable to clinical situations in which patients cannot o r will not respond voluntarily.