Spontaneous otoacoustic emissions are generated by active oscillators clustered in frequency plateaus

It is commonly assumed that the active process linked to hair-cell motility is an important factor contributing to SOAEs. A chain of coupled, active and nonlinear oscillators with tonotopic organization can be used to account for key aspects of cochlear processing, including SOAEs and related phenomena when random irregularities of the mechanical parameters (roughness) are introduced. It was hypothesized that this roughness leads to sudden impedance mismatches leading to multiple reflections of the travelling wave in the cochlea. Recently it was shown [Wit&van Dijk, 2012; J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 132, 918–926] that a linear array of active oscillators with nearest neighbour coupling produces clusters of oscillators with a common oscillation frequency (frequency plateaus) and a preferred frequency separation. The frequency plateaus can also be entrained to the frequency of an external tone. Both of these aspects are properties found in SOAEs. In the present study it is investigated if frequency plateaus are also found in a TM which is able to generate realistic SOAEs and if these frequency plateaus can be used to explain the formation of SOAEs.