Threshold Prediction Using the Auditory Steady-State Response and the Tone Burst Auditory Brain Stem Response: A Within-Subject Comparison

Abstract

Both the ABR and the ASSR provided reasonably accurate predictions of behavioral threshold across the three subject groups. There was no evidence that the predictive accuracy of the ABR evoked using Blackman-gated tone bursts differed from the predictive accuracy observed when linear-gated tone bursts were presented in conjunction with notched noise. Similarly, there was no evidence that the predictive accuracy of the AM ASSR differed from the AM/FM ASSR. In general, ABR thresholds were recorded at levels closer to behavioral threshold than the ASSR. For certain individuals with steeply sloping hearing losses, the ASSR may be a more accurate predictor of behavioral thresholds; however, the ABR may be a more appropriate choice when predicting behavioral thresholds in a population where the incidence of normal hearing is expected to be high.