Some effects of room acoustics on evoked auditory potentials.

Auditory potentials were recorded from bipolar electrodes chronically implanted in the cochlear nuclei of four cats. In a training box modified to reduce echoes these animals were exposed to clicks and tone pulses presented from an overhead speaker. Slight changes in the position of the animal in the resulting sound field produced marked changes in the potentials evoked from the cochlear nucleus. These phenomena were observed in the unanesthetized, unrestrained subjects as well as in those under Nembutal anesthesia. It is suggested that these acoustic effects complicate the analysis and interpretation of potentials evoked from the cochlear nucleus under conditions of habituation, shifts in attention, and learning.