The Middle Components of the Auditory Evoked Response in Adults During Sleep

Abstract

The middle components of the auditory evoked response during sleep were investigated in 9 normal adults. As the stage of sleep became deeper, the latency of each peak except Po-peak was slightly increased and the amplitude of those was slightly decreased. Nb- and Pb-peak had a tendency to disappear in the deep sleep stage.
The detectability of Po-, Na- and Pa-peak during sleep was not lower or higher than that of those during waking. Na-peak usually consisted of double peaks, and Na₂ was dominant in the awake stage, but Na₁ sometimes became dominant during sleep.
From these results, it was concluded that the effect of the depth of sleep on the middle components was not so large in adults as in children.