One-year test-retest reliability of auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) to tones of increasing intensity

The one-year reliability of auditory evoked potential (AEP) amplitude/stimu lus intensity slopes (obtained for single channels and with dipole source a nalysis) and the stability and criterion validity of alternative measures t o the conventional AEPs augmenting/reducing (A/R) linear slope were explore d in a sample of 21 psychology students. AEPs were obtained from two sequen ces of 288 Ss of different intensities (60, 80, 90, and 110 dB SPL), presen ted in four blocks of 72 tones of each intensity or in a pseudorandomized o rder. The Zuckerman's Sensation Seeking Scale, which has been associated to the A/R slope, was used as a criterion measure. The results supported the one-year reliability of N1P2 slopes obtained in single channels (especially for Fz and Ct and for the random presentation of stimuli) and for dipoles obtained with brain electric source analysis (especially for the tangential dipoles). Neither of the A/R measures was significantly related to the cri terion. These results support the stability of AEPs A/R, but throw serious doubts on the use of this psychophysiological phenomenon as a correlate of personality dimensions such as sensation seeking.