Brain responses to silence: towards a new clinical evaluation of audition
Main Article Content
Keywords
silence, gap in noise, tinnitus, auditory evoked potentials, brain oscillations
Abstract
The brain has different states of operation, one of them is the absence of au- ditory stimulation or silent states. To assess the capacity to detect auditory silent periods, various tests have been developed, including behavioral and electrophysiological evaluations. Brain responses to silence can be evaluated with brain oscillations and evoked potentials. This area promises important clinical applicability, for example, in pathologies like tinnitus, a condition in which there is no silent state, where it is believed that the evaluation of brain responses to silence could emerge as a new marker or diagnostic element. In this article we review different methods used for assessing brain responses to sound in animal models and humans.
