Topography of auditory evoked long-latency potentials in normal children, with particular reference to the N1 component.

Topographic maps of late auditory evoked potentials were obtained with the Brain Atlas III system in 34 healthy, normal hearing children aged 8-16 years. The stimulus was a 100 msec, 500 Hz tone burst, presented separately to the left and right ears, at 75 dB HL. The resulting auditory evoked potentials showed a prominent N1, after about 100 msec, and a topographic map with a corresponding fronto-lateral focus designated as the focus of N1 (FN1). Foci with varying positions and amplitudes were identified in 33 of 34 subjects after left ear stimulation and in 29 of 32 subjects after right ear stimulation. The topography showed a high degree of stability in most subjects, with the position of the negative "peak" of FN1 in front of the interaural line and with a dominance contralateral to the ear stimulated. There was a significant decrease in the latency of N1 with increasing age. FN1 tended to change position with age and some differences from adults were also observed. In conclusion, a distinct topographic pattern of the N1 component of the late auditory evoked potentials was seen in the majority of children. It remains to be established to what extent this method may be clinically useful for disclosing functional disturbances in the central auditory pathways.