A comparison of short-latency auditory-evoked potentials in two strains of mice: possible neurophysiological correlates of susceptibility to audiogenic seizures?

The short-latency auditory-evoked response was recorded from adult (over 8 wk) and young (16-22 day) mice of the audiogenic seizure-prone DBA/2J (D2) and seizure-resistant C57BL/6J (C6) strains. An auditory complex made up of eleven peaks and troughs was found within the first 20 ms after click stimuli. The latencies of the potentials tended to be shorter in the C6 mice and in the adults of both strains. The ratio of amplitude differences of late to early peaks ('amplitude index') was much larger (P less than 0.01) in D2 mice. The data are consistent with greater neuronal recruitment to acoustic stimuli in the higher-order auditory centers of D2 mice.