AGE, SEX AND MENTAL-RETARDATION RELATED CHANGES OF BRAIN-STEM AUDITORY-EVOKED POTENTIALS IN DOWNS-SYNDROME

Brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs) were recorded in 51 Down' s syndrome (DS) subjects and compared with those of 38 normal controls ; the correlations between the BAEP measures and age, sex, and degree of mental retardation were then evaluated The DS patients showed a sig nificant reduction in wave V latency and amplitude and in I-III III-V, and I-V interpeak intervals. An age-related shortening of the I-V int erpeak interval found in DS patients was interpreted as being a result of changes in central inhibitory/excitatory, mechanisms. In both grou ps, female subjects presented an I-V interval shorter than that of mal es but this difference was greater in the DS subjects than in the norm al population. The DS patients with severe mental retardation showed s ignificantly longer I-V interpeak intervals than those with moderate r etardation; this could be due to the presence of additional central ne rvous system abnormalities.