Human auditory-evoked potentials before and after magnetic resonance imaging.

The effect of magnetic fields on auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) was examined under two conditions. The first involved recording ABRs before and immediately after magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). ABRs were then recorded as the static magnetic field was increased stepwise to 2T. No significant changes in ABR latencies were noted under either condition. These results indicate that MRI has no measurable effect on the transmission latencies of auditory brainstem neural pathways.