Single‐unit and gross potential responses to speech can now be recorded at virtually any level of the auditory nervous system desired. It may be useful at this time to review what is known, what is foreseeable in the immediate future, and what appears to be feasible with the present state of technology. This presentation will focus on conceptual and methodological issues. The time seems appropriate for speech scientists in general, and certainly phoneticians in particular, to participate in the analysis of how the brain processes complex acoustic signals such as speech. [Supported in part by NIH grants.]