Human medial efferent activity elicited by dynamic versus static contralateral noises

Mertes, Ian B.

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/99960 Copy

Description

Title

Human medial efferent activity elicited by dynamic versus static contralateral noises

Author(s)

Mertes, Ian B.

Issue Date

2018

Keyword(s)

• Medial olivocochlear reflex
• Auditory efferent system
• Otoacoustic emissions
• Contralateral suppression
• Amplitude modulation
• Multi-talker babble

Abstract

The medial olivocochlear reflex (MOCR) modifies cochlear amplifier function to improve encoding of signals in static noise, but conflicting results have been reported regarding how the MOCR responds to dynamic, temporally-complex noises. The current study utilized three MOCR elicitors with identical spectral content but different temporal properties: broadband noise, amplitude-modulated noise, and speech envelope-modulated noise. MOCR activity was assessed using contralateral inhibition of transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions in 27 normal-hearing young adults. Elicitors were presented contralaterally at two intensities of 50 and 60 dB SPL. Magnitude and growth of contralateral inhibition with increasing elicitor intensity were compared across the three elicitor types. Results revealed that contralateral inhibition was significantly larger at the elicitor intensity of 60 dB SPL than at 50 dB SPL, but there were no significant differences in the magnitude and growth of inhibition across the three elicitors, contrary to hypothesis. These results suggest that the MOCR responds similarly to both static and dynamic noise.

Publisher

Hearing Research

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/99960

DOI

10.1016/j.heares.2018.05.007

Sponsor(s)/Grant Number(s)

• American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation/2017 New Investigators Research Grant
• Campus Research Board of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign/Arnold O. Beckman Award

Owning Collections