Development and application of programmable auditory stimulator

The authors have developed a microprocessor-based programmable auditory stimulator for human auditory brainstem research. The stimulator can be programmed to generate 100 waveforms, such as click, tone burst, etc. These stimulus waveforms can be transmitted to the ears by earphones separately. The stimulator is a small system using an Intel 8085A microprocessor. The mode, frequency, and interval of the various stimulus signals can be changed by thumb-wheel switches in the front of the panel and recognized by the program. A tone burst is produced by a voltage control amplifier, the envelope comes from the programmable signal generator, and white noise is generated by a cheap electronic circuit. Stimulus signals of positive, negative, or alternating polarity can be produced. The stimulator has been used with satisfactory results.<>