Does smoking affect cortical auditory evoked potentials in young adults?

BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoking has vascular and neurotoxic effects that may influence auditory function, and cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) can reveal subtle central auditory changes even when peripheral hearing thresholds remain within reference limits. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether smoking influences CAEP responses in young adults with pure-tone hearing thresholds within reference limits. METHODS: < 0.05). RESULTS: = 0.009, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: In normal-hearing young adults, cigarette smoking is associated with prolonged P1 latencies and reduced P1-N1/N1-P2 amplitudes. This indicates early thalamocortical disruption, highlighting CAEPs as sensitive markers for subclinical tobacco-induced auditory dysfunction.