Frequency dependent latency and the envelope following response

Abstract

Auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) reflect synchronous neural firing. Because of frequency-dependent latencies associated with basilar membrane transduction, click stimuli produce neural activity across a wide range of frequencies that is not synchronous. The envelope following response (EFR), one class of AEP, was measured in response to harmonics of 100 Hz, with components in either negative- or positive-Schroeder phase. The most robust EFRs were obtained with the negative-Schroeder stimuli, which are associated with a frequency sweep from low to high frequency, counteracting transduction latencies. Results obtained with these stimuli could be used in an objective assessment of peripheral encoding of low frequencies. © 2001 Acoustical Society of America.