Repeated-measures ABRs in multiple sclerosis: Demonstration of a new tool for individual neurological assessment
Judith L. Lauter, Janiece Lord-Maes · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1990
This research using a simple measure of evoked-potential variability based on repeated-measures within-subject testing has demonstrated that (1) replicable patterns in relative variability both of latency and amplitude in peaks of the auditory brainstem response (ABR) may be observed in normal children and adults, and (2) these patterns are sensitive to individual differences, ear differences, and developmental changes persisting at least through age 12. Several individuals with multiple sclerosis have now been tested using our protocol, based on clinically standard procedures for data collection and analysis, with the single exception the repeated-measures design, comprising collection of four left ear, four right ear, and eight binaural waveforms in the same 1.5-h session. Results to date indicate that the array of dependent variables yielded by this method: (1) may distinguish MS patients from normals as well as from members of other groups such as Alzheimer's patients and substance abusers; and (2) makes it possible to order MS patients along a continuous scale from mild to severe, in a ranking which compares well with clinical ratings. These observations have currently been extended to include other progressive diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinsonism, and pathologies involving arousal, such as addictive personality, hyperactivity, and coma. Indications promise new applications in differential diagnosis, disorder staging (acute status, progressive time course, cycles of remission, and exacerbation, etc.), and objective documentation of treatment efficacy. [Work supported by AFOSR.]