Frequency specific components of the cochlear nerve and brainstem evoked responses of the human auditory system.

A technique of high-pass (HP) masking was used to obtain masked cochlear nerve and brainstem evoked responses (CBER) of the human auditory system. The masking noise was extended progressively into the lower frequency regions of the cochlea for consecutively recorded responses, and the effect upon the response waveform was observed. Masked response waveforms were then subtracted to produce derived CBER waveforms representing activity initiated at specific frequency locations along the cochlear partition. Derived response components from various frequency bands were characterized and related to changes in the complex CBER during the process of frequency selective high-pass masking.