vee Applied Aspects 175 Figure 85 shows the first 10 msec of a normal auditory evoked response recorded using electrodes placed over the vertex and the mastoid. At least seven distinct wave components are seen repre- senting activation of the brain stem nuclei of a human subject. Rapin (1967) has detected residual hearing in a number of multiply-handicapped infants using auditory evoked potentials and has prescribed effective hearing aids for these patients who might have been assumed completely deaf were it not for the evoked po- tential methodology. Also, Sohmer et al. (1974) have shown that in the presence of tumors which exert pressure on or near the junction of the auditory nerve and the brain stem (acoustic neu- tinoma and petrous bone meningioma), only the earliest com- ponents were recorded. On the other hand, in the presence of brain stem lesions some of the later waves were absent. A third medical application, which is too new for full evalua- tion, is the potential use of pulse-modulated microwaves for speech communication. During the course of documenting micro- wave-induced auditory effects, Guy et al. (1973, 1975) noted that short trains of rectangular microwave pulses could be heard as chirps with tones corresponding to the pulse repetition frequen- Ill II [25 — 1 msec t STIMULUS ARTIFACTS Figure 85. Normal brain stem auditory evoked response. Average of re- sponses to 1500 clicks each having a duration of 100 ysec. Recording elec- trodes are located on the vertex and the mastoid. (Courtesy of Dr. G. Lynn, Wayne State University.)176 Microwave Auditory Effects and Applications cies, as mentioned in Chapter 3. It was also found that when the pulse generator was keyed manually-such that each closing and opening of a push-button switch resulted in emitting a short rec- tangular pulse of microwave energy-transmitted digital codes could be received and accurately interpreted by the irradiated sub- ject. Direct communication of speech via appropriate modulation of microwave energy has been demonstrated by Sharp and Grove (see Justesen, 1975). They tape recorded each of the single-syl- lable words for digits between one and ten. The speech wave- forms of each word were then converted to digital signals in such a fashion that each time an analog speech wave crossed the zero reference in the negative direction, a short pulse of microwave energy was emitted from the transmitter. By radiating themselves with the “speech modulated” microwave energy, Sharp and Grove reported they were able to hear, identify, and distinguish the words tested. Communication of more complex words and sen- tences was not attempted because the average power density re- quired to transmit these messages would exceed the current 10 mW /cm? guide for safe exposure. The capability of communicat- ing directly with humans by pulsed microwaves is obviously not limited to the field of therapeutic medicine. However, as Justesen indicated, the question of how much microwave radiation expo- sure an individual can safely tolerate will probably forestall ap- plications in the immediate future. Research Uses There are at least two experimental situations in which the mi- crowave auditory effect offers a unique potential as a research tool. First is in the area of microwave auditory stimulation in be- havioral investigations. It is clear from the material treated in Chapter 3 that appropriate pulse-modulated microwaves can con- trol or disrupt the behavior of experimental animals in terms of induced auditory stimulation, as does conventional acoustic en- ergy. Microwave auditory stimulation therefore appears to be a useful research tool for specialized psychophysical experimenta- tion on the auditory system.