Influence of inter-stimulus interval on auditory evoked potentials

In this research, the influence of the preceding auditor stimulus on the auditory-evoked potential (AEP) of the succeeding stimuli was investigated, when the human subjects were presented with a pair of auditory stimuli. We found that the evoked potential of the succeeding stimulus was inhibited completely by the preceding stimulus, when the inter-stimulus interval (ISI) was shorter than 150 ms. The influence was depended on the ISI of two stimuli, the longer was the ISI, the stronger would be the influence. The inhibitory influence by the preceding stimulus might be caused by the neural refractory effect.