STEADY STATE MEASUREMENT AND ANALYSIS APPROACH TO PROFILING AUDITORY EVOKED POTENTIALS FROM SHORT-LATENCY TO LONG LATENCY

摘要

The present invention relates to methods and systems for profiling evoked potentials in brain electrical activity which apply steady state response concepts to analysis of longer latency responses reflective of activity of brain regions beyond the brainstem, up to an including the cortex. The use of repeated stimuli within a single analysis window produces a quasi steady-state response and permits a high-resolution spectral analysis. Response amplitudes were measured at repetition rates from 80 to below 1 Hz, using trains of repeated tone-burst stimuli. An amplitude measure introduced and defined as the harmonic sum was incorporated into the spectral power of the response carried by both the fundamental frequency, and the harmonics thereof. Additionally, time ensemble averaging can be employed to improve signal to noise ratio.