Abstract
The healthy auditory system shows a compressive input/output
(I/O) function as a result of healthy outer-hair cell function.
Hearing impairment often leads to a decrease in sensitivity
and a reduction of compression, mainly caused by loss of inner
and/or outer hair cells. Compression is commonly estimated
based on behavioral procedures (Plack et al., 2004), which are
time consuming and rely on assumptions regarding the ability
to selectively investigate cochlear processing; or on objective
recordings such as otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) (Neely et al.,
2003), which allow to selectively study cochlear processing but
the interpretation of results for individual data is challenging.
Auditory steady-state responses (ASSR) are another objective
method which allows fast, reliable and frequency-specific
measurements of hearing function. It is investigated here
whether ASSR can be used to estimate compression along the
peripheral auditory pathway. It is hypothesized that compressive
behavior is observed in normal-hearing (NH) listeners while
in hearing-impaired (HI) listeners, sensitivity and compression
are reduced. ASSR data are later compared to data from
distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) recordings.
Results show compressive ASSR I/O functions for NH subjects.
For HI subjects, ASSR reveal the loss of sensitivity at low
stimulus levels. Growth slopes are smaller (more compressive)
in ASSR than in DPOAE I/O functions.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication date | 2014 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |
| Event | 37th Annual MidWinter Meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology - San Diego, CA, United States Duration: 22 Feb 2014 → 26 Feb 2014 Conference number: 37 |
Conference
| Conference | 37th Annual MidWinter Meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology |
|---|---|
| Number | 37 |
| Country/Territory | United States |
| City | San Diego, CA |
| Period | 22/02/2014 → 26/02/2014 |