Central auditory system plasticity associated with speech discrimination training.

Abstract A passively elicited cortical potential that reflects the brain's discrimination of small acoustic contrasts was measured in response to two slightly different speech stimuli in adult human subjects. Behavioral training in the discrimination of those speech stimuli resulted in a significant change in the duration and magnitude of the cortical potential. The results demonstrate that listening training can change the neurophysiologic responses of the central auditory system to just-perceptible differences in speech.