Follow-up of auditory-evoked potentials and temporary threshold shift in subjects developing noise-induced permanent hearing loss.

The effects of auditory fatigue, using a temporary threshold shift (TTS) paradigm, on cochlear microphonics (CM) and on auditory brainstem-evoked potentials (ABEP), were studied in normal-hearing subjects during the development of permanent threshold shift (PTS). Behavioral threshold shifts were accompanied by different effects on CM and on ABEP, as PTS was gradually induced by occupational noise. Measures of the effect of increasing stimulus rate (ISR) on ABEP revealed decreased latency shifts during auditory fatigue. ABEP proved useful in early detection of changes in the auditory system, resulting from exposure to noise. In addition, this study further supports the suggestion that TTS acts as a peripheral attenuator of the effect of ISR on the central auditory pathway.