The auditory steady-state response (ASSR) is an electrical waveform evoked by an auditory stimulus that recurs periodically at a rate sufficiently [Page 234]rapid that the potentials evoked by any one stimulus overlap with those evoked by preceding stimuli. After a while, the response no longer changes over time. The response then contains energy at the rate of stimulation and its harmonics. ASSRs have become clinically useful in the objective evaluation of hearing.

They can be recorded from all the different levels of the auditory nervous system and used to assess hearing in patients who are too young or otherwise unable to provide reliable responses on behavioral testing. They may also possibly be used to evaluate the normal functioning of thalamocortical networks in the brain. This entry ...