We related intracranial auditory brain-stem evoked potentials (BAEPs) to the surface BAEP using a model of focal brain-stem ischaemia. In 17 baboons anaesthetised with alpha-chloralose, BAEPs were recorded bilaterally at the mastoids and in the caudal lateral lemniscus (LL) and inferior colliculus (IC), in response to monaural click stimulation. Electrodes at these sites were each connected to the positive input of a differential amplifier, and one other electrode, placed at the vertex, was connected to all the negative inputs. Measurements of local cerebral blood flow (CBF) by hydrogen clearance were made at the LL and IC sites. The LL wave form contained 5-7 positive peaks, the second (B wave) being dominant and coinciding with the negative wave II of the surface BAEP. Following graded ischaemia, produced by basilar artery occlusion and controlled hypotension, the latency changes of these two peaks were significantly correlated, as were those of the third wave (C wave) of the LL response and the surface wave III. In the IC, the contralateral wave form contained 4 positive waves (A-D) and a later, dominant, slow negative wave; changes in its peak latency and those of the slow negative surface wave were similarly correlated. The thresholds of local CBF for increases in latency of waves B and C in the LL were similar (12-15 ml/100 g/min), but in the IC the thresholds were 20, 30-35 and 20-24 ml/100 g/min for the B, C and slow negative waves, respectively. Our data indicate that a gradient of sensitivity to ischaemia is present along the brain-stem auditory pathways; this could explain the earlier change of the late, rather than early, BAEP components as reported in clinical cases involving brain-stem lesions.