The human auditory brain stem as a generator of auditory evoked potentials.

Data on the size, location, and orientation of human brain stem auditory nuclei are discussed here from the point of view of the potential role of these structures in generation of the brain stem auditory evoked response. Due to reduction in size of several nuclei in the human brain stem, the structures most likely to be generators of far-field potentials are the cochlear nuclei, medial olivary nuclei, dorsal lemniscal nuclei, inferior colliculi, and their axonal projections. Consideration of the anatomy of the human auditory brain stem pathway forms the basis for a model of generation of auditory evoked potentials.