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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Early Auditory Evoked Potentials (EAEP) in Neurosurgery — A New Method for Diagnosis and Localization of Posterior Fossa Tumors in Childhood

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Auditory stimuli of suprathreshold intensity (above 60 dBHL) evoke about 15 waves: an early series (EAEP) during the initial 10 milliseconds (ms), a middle latency sequence (8 to 50 ms) and the longer latency cortical potentials (50 – 300 ms). PICTON et al. (1974) made a survey of all three potential groups. Only the EAEP (waves I to IV) are generated in the infratentorial part of the brain and reflect progressive activation of the auditory tracts and nuclei (Fig. 1): Wave I is assumed to originate at the distal part of the acoustic nerve, wave II in the medulla, wave III in the caudal and wave IV in the rostral pons and wave V in the midbrain (STARR and ACHOR, 1975; STOCKARD and ROSSITER, 1977; MAURER et al., 1979).