Auditory brain-stem response and temperature: relationship in the guinea pig.

The neurological applications of the auditory brain-stem response depend largely on the stability of the interval between the peaks of waves I and V. Using guinea pigs, it was demonstrated that hyperthermia and small temperature changes, as well as hypothermia, may affect interpeak latency (IPL) sufficiently to affect its clinical interpretation. The relationship between temperature and IPL is specified by a power function such that there is a 5.3% increase in IPL for a 1 degree C drop. Although the constant for humans may differ from that of guinea pigs, the results of this animal study demonstrate that the relationship between temperature and IPL is invariant from 27 degrees C to 40 degrees C.