Investigation of Human Laryngeal Evoked Brainstem Potentials

The primary purpose of this study will be to determine whether the proposed study protocol
will allow for reliable detection of the human Laryngeal evoked brainstem responses (LEBR).
Laryngeal evoked brain stem responses will be recorded from five test subjects under general
anesthesia in the operating room with the assistance of an electrophysiologist with expertise
in evoked potentials. Once the feasibility of obtaining tracings are established on the first
few subjects, responses will be recorded from other test subjects with the aim of determining
the optimal placement of stimulating electrodes and detection leads necessary to elicit an
adequate response. The effect of varying the stimulus intensity will also be studied. Once
parameters for testing have been standardized, normative configurations for the laryngeal
evoked brainstem response tracings can be determined by patients both in the office setting
and in the operating room.