Sensorimotor integration (SMI) is the ability of the central nervous system (CNS) to integrate afferent (incoming) information from different body parts and formulate appropriate motor output to muscles. Effective sensorimotor integration is essential when learning new skills and when performing tasks at home and in the workplace (Rothwell &Rosenkranz, 2005). The overall aim of this thesis is to investigate the effect of acute experimental pain on sensorimotor processing. The primary outcome is the effect of acute experimental pain on somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) peaks. Secondary outcomes include the effect of pain on motor performance and the interactive effect of pain and motor training on SEP peaks. As expected for the placebo condition, no significant differences were found in any of the post-placebo peaks. Contrary to what was expected for the placebo condition, the only peak to be significantly different post-motor learning was the N24 peak. Contrary to what was expected, there were no significant differences for any of the peaks following capsaicin application. One of the secondary outcomes was the interactive effect of pain and motor learning on SEP peaks. The only peak to show any significant differences post-intervention/post-motor learning was the N24 peak. Another secondary outcome was the effect of pain on motor performance. In terms of accuracy, no significant differences were found for either condition following motor learning. However, the data does show a trend towards improved accuracy for the subjects in the intervention group while the subjects in the placebo show a trend towards decreased accuracy. As expected, there was a significant decrease in reaction time for both conditions post-motor learning. However, contrary to what was expected, reaction time decreased to a greater extent in the intervention condition as compared to the placebo condition. It was anticipated that the reaction time would decrease to a greater extent in the placebo condition as it was hypothesized that pain would negatively impact motor performance. It is suspected that the effect of the pain induced by the capsaicin made the motor training task more difficult and participants would have had to focus greater attentional resources to learn the task which lead to the enhanced performance following motor training. / UOIT

The hearing abilities of elasmobranch fishes were examined in response to several types of stimuli using auditory evoked potentials (AEP). Audiograms were acquired for the nurse shark, Ginglymostoma cirratum, the yellow stingray, Urobatis jamaicensis, in a controlled environment using a monopole underwater speaker. A dipole stimulus was used to measure the hearing thresholds of the horn shark, Heterodontus francisi, and the white-spotted bamboo shark, Chiloscyllium plagiosum. The dipole experiments yielded much lower thresholds than any other experiment, suggesting that this type of sound specifically stimulated the macula neglecta by creating a strong velocity flow above the head of the shark. A shaker table was created to measure the directional hearing thresholds of the C. plagiosum and the brown-banded bamboo shark, C. punctatum. This experiment showed that these sharks could sense accelerations equally in all directions suggesting that they have omnidirectional ears. The results also yielded higher thresholds than with the dipole, suggesting that the macula neglecta was not stimulated as the sharks were being accelerated. An audiogram was also acquired for the Atlantic sharpnose shark, Rhizoprionodon terraenovae, using a monopole speaker in the field. This experiment revealed that the hearing thresholds did not appear to be masked by ambient noise levels, and resulting thresholds yielded the lowest levels detected by any elasmobranch using AEPs. Taken together, these experiments show that sharks are most sensitive to low frequency sounds in the near field and use both their otoconial endorgans as well as the macula neglecta to sense particle motion.

Sensory adaptation to blur improves visual acuity under defocused conditions. This phenomenon has been successfully demonstrated using subjective measures of acuity and is known as blur adaptation. This study investigates aspects of the mechanism of blur adaptation in human vision using subjective and objective methods. Parafoveal visual acuity measured under defocused conditions demonstrates that blur adaptation is not limited to the fovea. The presence of the adaptive mechanism in the parafovea also suggests that the neural compensation that takes places under defocused conditions acts across a spatial range and is not limited to specific frequency bands. An evaluation of the contrast sensitivity function under defocus provides further evidence. Electrophysiological methods measure the effect of blur adaptation at the retina and at the visual cortex to provide objective evidence for the presence of the blur adaptation mechanism. Finally enhanced-depth imaging optical coherence tomography examines whether a period of prolonged defocus triggers any short-term changes in choroidal thickness in a similar manner to that reported in animal emmetropisation.

<p>An understanding of sensory ecology, how animals receive and respond to their environment, can be a powerful tool for the conservation of endangered species because it can allow us to assess the potential success of actions designed to mitigate particular threats. We have a general understanding of how sea turtles perceive and respond to certain visual, magnetic, and chemical cues, but we understand very little about how they perceive and respond to acoustic cues. This dissertation explores the acoustic ecology of sea turtles, focusing on their auditory capabilities, responses to acoustic stimuli and the implications of this knowledge for their conservation. I measured the underwater and aerial hearing sensitivities of juvenile green (Chelonia mydas), hatchling leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), and hatchling hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) sea turtles by recording auditory evoked potential responses to tonal stimuli. Green turtles detected tonal stimuli between 50 and 1,600 Hz underwater (maximum sensitivity: 200-400 Hz) and 50 and 800 Hz in air (maximum sensitivity: 300-400 Hz), leatherbacks detected tonal stimuli between 50 and 1,200 Hz underwater (maximum sensitivity: 100-400 Hz) and 50 and 1,600 Hz in air (maximum sensitivity: 50-400Hz), and hawksbills detected tonal stimuli between 50 and 1,600 Hz in both media (maximum sensitivity: 200-400 Hz). Sea turtles were more sensitive to aerial than underwater stimuli when audiograms were compared in terms of sound pressure, but they were more sensitive to underwater stimuli when audiograms were compared in terms of sound intensity. I also examined the behavioral responses of loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) to simulated low frequency acoustic deterrent devices (ADDs) and found that these turtles exhibited a mild, aversive response to these sounds. This finding indicates that low frequency tonal ADDs have the potential to warn sea turtles of the presence of fishing gear and suggest that field tests of ADDs are warranted. Finally, I conducted a comprehensive review of our knowledge of the acoustic ecology of sea turtles, examined the sources of marine anthropogenic sound sea turtles are able to detect, evaluated the potential physiological and behavioral effects of anthropogenic sound, identified data gaps, and made recommendations for future research.</p> / Dissertation

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) has become an increasingly popular rehabilitative treatment approach for swallowing disorders (dysphagia). However, its precise effects on swallowing biomechanics and measures of swallowing neurophysiology are unclear. Clearly defined NMES treatment protocols that have been corroborated by thorough empirical research are lacking. The primary objective of this research programme was therefore to establish optimal NMES treatment parameters for the anterior hyo-mandibular (submental) musculature, a muscle group that is critically involved in the oral and pharyngeal phases of swallowing. Based on previous research, the primary hypothesis was that various NMES treatment protocols would have differential effects of either enhancing or inhibiting the excitability of corticobulbar projections to this muscle group. The research paradigm used to test this hypothesis was an evaluation of MEP amplitude and onset latency, recorded in the functional context of volitional contraction of the submental musculature (VC) and contraction of this muscle group during the pharyngeal phase of volitional swallowing (VPS, volitional pharyngeal swallow). Outcome measures were recorded before and at several time points after each NMES treatment trial. This methodology is similar to, but improved upon, research paradigms previously reported. Changes in corticobulbar excitability in response to various NMES treatment protocols were recorded in a series of experiments. Ten healthy research participants were recruited into a study that evaluated the effects of event-related NMES, whereas 15 healthy research participants were enrolled in a study that investigated the effects of non-event-related NMES. In a third cohort of 35 healthy research participants, task-dependent differences in corticobulbar excitability were evaluated during three conditions of submental muscle contraction: VC, VPS and submental muscle contraction during the pharyngeal phase of reflexive swallowing (RPS, reflexive pharyngeal swallowing). Event-related NMES induced frequency-depended changes in corticobulbar excitability. NMES administered at 80 Hz facilitated MEP amplitude, whereas NMES at 5 Hz and 20 Hz inhibited MEP amplitude. No changes were observed after NMES at 40 Hz. Maximal excitatory or inhibitory changes occurred 60 min post-treatment. Changes in MEP amplitude in response to event-related NMES were only observed when MEPs were recorded during the VC condition, whereas MEPs recorded during the VPS condition remained unaffected. Non-event-related NMES did not affect MEP amplitude in either of the muscle contraction conditions. Similarly, MEP onset latencies remained unchanged across all comparisons. MEPs were detected most consistently during the VC contraction condition. They were less frequently detected and were smaller in amplitude for the VPS condition and they were infrequently detected during pre-activation by RPS. The documented results indicate that event-related NMES has a more substantial impact on MEP amplitude than non-event-related NMES, producing excitatory and inhibitory effects. Comparison of MEPs recorded during VC, VPS and RPS suggests that different neural networks may govern the motor control of submental muscle activation during these tasks. This research programme is the first to investigate the effects of various NMES treatment protocols on the excitability of submental corticobulbar projections. It provides important new information for the use of NMES in clinical rehabilitation practices and our understanding of the neural networks governing swallowing motor control.

In estimating auditory Evoked Potentials (EPs) from ongoing EEG the number of sweeps should be reduced to decrease the experimental time and to increase the reliability of diagnosis. The &macr / rst goal of this study is to demon- strate the use of basic estimation techniques in extracting auditory EPs (AEPs) from small number of sweeps relative to ensemble averaging (EA). For this purpose, three groups of basic estimation techniques are compared to the traditional EA with respect to the signal-to-noise ratio(SNR) improve- ments in extracting the template AEP. Group A includes the combinations of the Subspace Method (SM) with the Wiener Filtering (WF) approaches (the conventional WF and coherence weighted WF (CWWF). Group B con- sists of standard adaptive algorithms (Least Mean Square (LMS), Recursive Least Square (RLS), and one-step Kalman &macr / ltering (KF). The regularization techniques (the Standard Tikhonov Regularization (STR) and the Subspace Regularization (SR) methods) forms Group C. All methods are tested in sim- ulations and pseudo-simulations which are performed with white noise and EEG measurements, respectively. The same methods are also tested with experimental AEPs. Comparisons based on the output signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) show that: 1) the KF and STR methods are the best methods among the algorithms tested in this study,2) the SM can reduce the large amount of the background EEG noise from the raw data, 3) the LMS and WF algo- rithms show poor performance compared to EA. The SM should be used as 1 a pre-&macr / lter to increase their performance. 4) the CWWF works better than the WF when it is combined with the SM, 5) the STR method is better than the SR method. It is observed that, most of the basic estimation techniques show de&macr / nitely better performance compared to EA in extracting the EPs. The KF or the STR e&reg / ectively reduce the experimental time (to one-fourth of that required by EA). The SM is a useful pre-&macr / lter to signi&macr / cantly reduce the noise on the raw data. The KF and STR are shown to be computationally inexpensive tools to extract the template AEPs and should be used instead of EA. They provide a clear template AEP for various analysis methods. To reduce the noise level on single sweeps, the SM can be used as a pre-&macr / lter before various single sweep analysis methods. The second goal of this study is to to present a new approach to extract single sweep AEPs without using a template signal. The SM and a modi- &macr / ed scale-space &macr / lter (MSSF) are applied consecutively. The SM is applied to raw data to increase the SNR. The less-noisy sweeps are then individu- ally &macr / ltered with the MSSF. This new approach is assessed in both pseudo- simulations and experimental studies. The MSSF is also applied to actual auditory brainstem response (ABR) data to obtain a clear ABR from a rel- atively small number of sweeps. The wavelet transform coe&plusmn / cients (WTCs) corresponding to the signal and noise become distinguishable after the SM. The MSSF is an e&reg / ective &macr / lter in selecting the WTCs of the noise. The esti- mated single sweep EPs highly resemble the grand average EP although less number of sweeps are evaluated. Small amplitude variations are observed among the estimations. The MSSF applied to EA of 50 sweeps yields an ABR that best &macr / ts to the grand average of 250 sweeps. We concluded that the combination of SM and MSSF is an e&plusmn / cient tool to obtain clear single sweep AEPs. The MSSF reduces the recording time to one-&macr / fth of that re- quired by EA in template ABR estimation. The proposed approach does not use a template signal (which is generally obtained using the average of small number of sweeps). It provides unprecedented results that support the basic assumptions in the additive signal model.

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) has become an increasingly popular rehabilitative treatment approach for swallowing disorders (dysphagia). However, its precise effects on swallowing biomechanics and measures of swallowing neurophysiology are unclear. Clearly defined NMES treatment protocols that have been corroborated by thorough empirical research are lacking. The primary objective of this research programme was therefore to establish optimal NMES treatment parameters for the anterior hyo-mandibular (submental) musculature, a muscle group that is critically involved in the oral and pharyngeal phases of swallowing. Based on previous research, the primary hypothesis was that various NMES treatment protocols would have differential effects of either enhancing or inhibiting the excitability of corticobulbar projections to this muscle group. The research paradigm used to test this hypothesis was an evaluation of MEP amplitude and onset latency, recorded in the functional context of volitional contraction of the submental musculature (VC) and contraction of this muscle group during the pharyngeal phase of volitional swallowing (VPS, volitional pharyngeal swallow). Outcome measures were recorded before and at several time points after each NMES treatment trial. This methodology is similar to, but improved upon, research paradigms previously reported. Changes in corticobulbar excitability in response to various NMES treatment protocols were recorded in a series of experiments. Ten healthy research participants were recruited into a study that evaluated the effects of event-related NMES, whereas 15 healthy research participants were enrolled in a study that investigated the effects of non-event-related NMES. In a third cohort of 35 healthy research participants, task-dependent differences in corticobulbar excitability were evaluated during three conditions of submental muscle contraction: VC, VPS and submental muscle contraction during the pharyngeal phase of reflexive swallowing (RPS, reflexive pharyngeal swallowing). Event-related NMES induced frequency-depended changes in corticobulbar excitability. NMES administered at 80 Hz facilitated MEP amplitude, whereas NMES at 5 Hz and 20 Hz inhibited MEP amplitude. No changes were observed after NMES at 40 Hz. Maximal excitatory or inhibitory changes occurred 60 min post-treatment. Changes in MEP amplitude in response to event-related NMES were only observed when MEPs were recorded during the VC condition, whereas MEPs recorded during the VPS condition remained unaffected. Non-event-related NMES did not affect MEP amplitude in either of the muscle contraction conditions. Similarly, MEP onset latencies remained unchanged across all comparisons. MEPs were detected most consistently during the VC contraction condition. They were less frequently detected and were smaller in amplitude for the VPS condition and they were infrequently detected during pre-activation by RPS. The documented results indicate that event-related NMES has a more substantial impact on MEP amplitude than non-event-related NMES, producing excitatory and inhibitory effects. Comparison of MEPs recorded during VC, VPS and RPS suggests that different neural networks may govern the motor control of submental muscle activation during these tasks. This research programme is the first to investigate the effects of various NMES treatment protocols on the excitability of submental corticobulbar projections. It provides important new information for the use of NMES in clinical rehabilitation practices and our understanding of the neural networks governing swallowing motor control.

Submitted by LETICIA SAMPAIO DE OLIVEIRA null (leticiaoliveira.fono@gmail.com) on 2018-04-03T00:30:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 VERSÃO FINAL LETICIA02.04corrigidoAna.pdf: 2556490 bytes, checksum: e05d6bcf4061674f653b1dfb15b7474b (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Satie Tagara (satie@marilia.unesp.br) on 2018-04-03T14:21:29Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 oliveira_ls_me_mar.pdf: 2556490 bytes, checksum: e05d6bcf4061674f653b1dfb15b7474b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-03T14:21:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 oliveira_ls_me_mar.pdf: 2556490 bytes, checksum: e05d6bcf4061674f653b1dfb15b7474b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-03-08 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Introdução: Os dois primeiros anos de vida de um indivíduo são os mais significativos para o desenvolvimento de habilidades auditivas e de linguagem. A neuroplasticidade durante esse período é máxima e o córtex mais responsivo, podendo realizar mais reorganizações neurais. Porém, caso o indivíduo sofra algum tipo de privação sensorial, oriunda de perdas auditivas sensorioneurais ou condutivas, durante a infância, o desenvolvimento das estruturas da via auditiva periférica e central será afetado, e trará consequências para o processamento binaural. O BIC pode trazer evidências em relação à binauralidade, pois a resposta evocada por um estímulo bilateral gera respostas mais específicas em relação ás estruturas responsáveis pelo processamento binaural, tornando sua análise mais confiável. Objetivo: Caracterizar as respostas auditivas corticais do Potencial Evocado Auditivo Cortical com estímulos de fala por estimulação monoaural e bilateral e analisar o BIC em neonatos e crianças sem e com histórico de otite de repetição. Metodologia: A pesquisa foi desenvolvida no Setor de Audiologia do Centro de Estudos da Educação e da Saúde (CEES), da Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Campus de Marília, São Paulo. Foram selecionados sujeitos de zero a oito anos e 11 meses, em boas condições de saúde geral, de ambos os gêneros, divididos em grupo um (normalidade) e grupo dois (histórico de infecção auditiva), e entre eles divididos em subgrupos a partir da faixa etária. O procedimento de coleta foi o PEAC com estímulo de fala /ba/-/da/ em paradigma oddball. O resultado do complexo de ondas P1-N1-P2-N2-P3 foi avaliado pela pesquisadora e dois juízes experientes na área de eletrofisiologia. Foi realizado o cálculo aritmético dos 512 pontos da onda a fim de obter a grande média das ondas dos sujeitos de ambos os grupos. Foram realizados os testes estatísticos: Shapiro-wilk e Ancova de Medidas Repetidas Mista para analisar o efeito do grupo, da condição e da interação (grupo VS condição) controlando o efeito da co-variável idade e sexo. Resultados: Houve diferença significativa entre os grupos para todos os valores de latência, sendo que para as latências dos potenciais P1, N1, P2 e N2 as diferenças entre os grupos ocorreram nas três condições analisadas (OE, OD e binaural), demonstrando influência da privação sensorial. Para a latência do potencial P3 foi observado diferença entre os grupos somente para a OD e binaural. Não houve diferenças significativas em relação às amplitudes das ondas. Conclusão: Existem diferenças no PEAC com estímulos de fala e no componente de interação binaural de crianças com e sem privação sensorial. / Introduction: The first two years of an individual's life are the most significant for the development of auditory and language skills. Neuroplasticity during this period is maximal and the cortex more responsive, being able to perform more neural reorganizations. However, if the individual experiences some kind of sensory deprivation, due to sensorineural or conductive hearing loss, during childhood, the development of peripheral and central auditory pathway structures will be affected, and will have consequences for binaural processing. The BIC can bring evidence regarding binaurality, since the response evoked by a bilateral stimulus generates morespecific responses to the structures responsible for binaural processing, making its analysis more reliable. Objective: To characterize the development of monaural and binaural auditory function in infants and children with and without history of sensory deprivation through Cortical Auditory Evoked Potential (CAEP). Methodology: The research was developed in the Audiology Sector of the “Centro de Estudos em Educação e Saúde” (CEES), Faculty of Philosophy and Sciences, State University of São Paulo (UNESP),Campus of Marília, São PauloState. Subjects from 0 to 8 years and 11 months, in good general health, were selected from both genders, divided into group 1 (normality) and group 2 (history of auditory infection), and divided into subgroups from age group.The collection procedure was the CAEP with speech stimulus /ba / -/da/ in the oddball paradigm. The results of the P1-N1-P2-N2-P3 wave complex were evaluated by the researcher and two experienced judges in the field of electrophysiology. The arithmetic calculation of the 512 wave points was performed in order to obtain the large wave mean of the subjects of both groups. Statistical tests were performed: Shapiro-wilk and Ancova of Mixed Repeated Measures to analyze the effect of group, condition and interaction (group vs. condition) controlling the effect of co-variable age and sex. Results: There was a significant difference between the groups for all latency values, and for the latencies of the potential P1, N1, P2 and N2 the differences between the groups occurred in the three analyzed conditions (OE, OD and binaural) demonstrating the influence of sensorial deprivation. For the latency of the P3 potential, there was a difference between the groups only for the OD and binaural. There were no significant differences in relation to the wave amplitudes. Conclusion:There are differences in the binaural auditory development of children with and without sensory deprivation ascertained by the results of the CAEP with speech stimulus.

INTRODUÇÃO: Lesões cerebrais isquêmicas ocorrem em índices bastante significativos, podendo levar a alterações cognitivas de graus variados, cujas repercussões clínicas podem ser de extrema gravidade para os pacientes acometidos. Para avaliar as conseqüências destas lesões nos aspectos funcionais, pode-se utilizar um dos componentes dos potenciais evocados auditivos relacionados a eventos, o Mismatch Negativity (MMN). OBJETIVOS: verificar se o MMN é capaz de detectar mudanças eletrofisiológicas em gerbils submetidos à isquemia cerebral e a hipotermia; verificar se o treinamento auditivo pode gerar mudanças eletrofisiológicas detectáveis pelo MMN, e comparar as latências do potencial com as células sobreviventes do hipocampo de gerbils submetidos à isquemia e a hipotermia. MÉTODOS: Estudo 1: 44 gerbils (Meriones Unguiculatus) adultos foram anestesiados com halotano e submetidos à isquemia cerebral através da oclusão bilateral das carótidas por sete minutos, e à captação do MMN. Os animais foram divididos nos grupos SHAM, HIPO, NORMO e HIPER, de acordo com a temperatura a que foram submetidos. Estudo 2: 28 gerbils foram submetidos a uma sessão de treinamento auditivo com duração de 300 segundos em caixa de esquiva com gerador de eletrochoque, e ao registro do MMN. Estudo 3: foi captado o MMN de 27 gerbils e, após terem sido sacrificados, foi realizada a quantificação de células sobreviventes da região CA1 do hipocampo através de cortes histológicos. RESULTADOS: Estudo 1: houve 100% de presença do MMN no grupo HIPO, não houve diferença estatisticamente significante entre os grupos SHAM e HIPO. Estudo 2: não houve diferença estatisticamente significante entre as latências do MMN antes e depois do treinamento auditivo. Estudo 3: observou-se maior número de células sobreviventes no hipocampo nos animais do grupo HIPO, e foi detectada baixa correlação entre o número de células sobreviventes e a latência do MMN. CONCLUSÕES: o MMN detectou as mudanças eletrofisiológicas geradas pelo efeito neuroprotetor da hipotermia, porém, o protocolo do treinamento auditivo utilizado neste estudo não gerou mudanças neurais nos animais que pudessem ser detectadas pelo MMN, e foi observada baixa correlação entre a latência do MMN e o número de células sobreviventes na região CA1 do hipocampo de gerbils submetidos à isquemia e a hipotermia. / INTRODUCTION: Significant ischemic cerebral lesions may result in cognitive disorders of varying degrees, with clinical repercussions that could be extremely severe for the affected patients. In order to evaluate the consequences of such lesions upon functional aspects, one of the components of event-related auditory evoked potentials, the Mismatch Negativity (MMN), may be used. AIM: to verify whether the MMN is able to identify electrophysiological changes in gerbils submitted to cerebral ischemia and hypothermia; to verify if auditory training may generate electrophysiological changes detectable by MMN, and to compare the potential\'s latencies with the surviving cells of the hippocampus of gerbils submitted to cerebral ischemia and hypothermia. METHODS: Study 1: 44 adult gerbils (Meriones Unguiculatus) were sedated with halothane and underwent cerebral ischemia through bilateral occlusion of the carotids for seven minutes, and the MMN was registered. Animals were divided in four groups, SHAM, HIPO, NORMO and HIPER, according to the temperature they were exposed. Study 2: 28 gerbils underwent a session of auditory training of 300 seconds in a passive shuttle box with an electroshock generator, and the MMN was registered. Study 3: the MMN of 27 gerbils were registered and after their scarifice, the amount of surviving cells in the CA1 region of the hippocampus was quantified through histological cuts. RESULTS: Study 1: the MMN was 100% present in the HIPO group, there was no significant statistical difference between groups SHAM and HIPO. Study 2: there was no significant statistical difference between the MMN latencies before and after the auditory training. Study 3: a greater number of surviving cells was observed in the hippocampus of animals from group HIPO, and a low correlation between the number of surviving cells and the MMN latency was detected. CONCLUSIONS: MMN detected electrophysiological changes generated by the neuroprotector effect of hypothermia, nevertheless the auditory training protocol used in this study did not generate neural changes in the animals that could be detected by MMN, and a low correlation between the MMN latency and the number of surviving cells in the CA1 region of the hippocampus of gerbils submitted to ischemia and hypothermia was observed.

Introdução: O implante coclear (IC) amplamente aceito como forma de intervenção e (re) habilitação nas perdas auditivas severas e profundas nas diversas faixas etárias. Contudo observa-se no usuário do IC unilateral queixas como localização e compreensão sonora em meio ao ruído, gerado pelo padrão anormal de estimulação sensorial. A fim de fornecer os benefícios da audição binaural, é preconizado a estimulação bilateral, seja por meio do IC bilateral ou com a adaptação de um aparelho de amplificação sonora individual (AASI) contralateralmente ao IC. Esta última condição é referida como estimulação bimodal, quando temos, concomitantemente dois modos de estimulação: Elétrica (IC) e acústica (AASI). Não há dados suficientes na literatura voltados à população infantil que esclareça ou demonstre o desenvolvimento do córtex auditivo na audição bimodal. Ressalta-se que não foram encontrados estudos em crianças. Objetivo: Caracterizar o PEAC complexo P1, N1 P2 em usuários da estimulação bimodal e verificar se há correlação com testes de percepção de fala. Metodologia: Estudo descritivo de séries de casos, com a realização do PEAC em cinco crianças usuárias da estimulação bimodal, a partir da metodologia proposta por Ventura (2008) utilizando o sistema Smart EP USB Jr da Intelligent Hearing Systems. Foi utilizado o som de fala /da/, apresentado em campo livre. O exame será realizado em três situações: Somente IC, IC e AASI e somente AASI. A análise dos dados dos potenciais corticais foi realizada após a marcação da presença ou ausência dos componentes do complexo P1-N1-P2 por dois juízes com experiência em potenciais evocados. Resultados: Foi obtida a captação do PEAC em todas as crianças em todas as situações de teste, além do que foi possível observar a correlação destes com os testes de percepção auditiva da fala. Foi possível verificar que o registro dos PEAC é um procedimento viável para a avaliação da criança com estimulação bimodal, porém, ainda não há dados suficientes quanto a utilização deste para a avaliação e indicação do IC bilateral. / Introduction: The cochlear implant (CI) is already accepted in the area, as an intervention (re)habilitation in severe and profound hearing loss in different age groups. However, it is observed in the unilateral CI users have complaints such as sound localization and understanding speech in noise. Recent studies with Cortical Auditory Evoked Potential (CAEP) demonstrated the fact that the CI cannot favors the ipsilateral development of the auditory pathway as expected. Therefore, unilateral CI users have an abnormal pattern of sensory stimulation. In this sense, the patient is advised and encouraged as to the fitting of hearing aids (HA) in no-implanted ear, especially in the presence of residual acoustic hearing in order to provide the benefits of binaural hearing. This condition is referred to bimodal hearing, when combining electric stimulation from the CI with acoustic stimulation from the contralateral ear provides to HA. Not enough data in the literature has focused on the child population to clarify or demonstrate the development of the auditory cortex in the bimodal hearing. Objective: To characterize the CAEP complex P1-N1-P2 users of bimodal stimulation and check for correlation with performance on tests of speech perception. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study, with the completion of the CAEP in six children using the Bimodal stimulation, the CAEP recording will be based in the methodology proposed by VENTURA (2008) using the system Smart EP USB Jr Intelligent Hearing Systems. The speech sound / of /, presented in free field, will be used. The potential will be recorded in three situations: monaural hearing (only CI); Bimodal hearing (IC and HA) and monoaural hearing (only HA). The examination will be held in three situations: monaural hearing (only IC); Bimodal hearing (IC and hearing aids) and hearing monaural (only the hearing aid). Data analysis of the cortical potential was performed after the marking of the presence or absence of the components of the N1-P1-P2 complex by two judges experienced in evoked potentials. It was verified that the record of the ECCP is a viable procedure for the assessment of children with bimodal stimulation and can assist in bilateral IC nomination process or the maintenance of bimodal stimulation.