Low-frequency acoustic modulations generated by the high-frequency portion of the cochlea, noninvasively recorded from the scalp of mice (Mus musculus).
Vocalizations often contain low-frequency modulations of the envelope of a high-frequency sound. The high-frequency portion of the cochlear nerve of mice (Mus musculus) generates a robust phase-locked response to these low-frequency modulations, and it can be easily recorded from the surface of the scalp. The cochlea is most sensitive to envelope modulation frequencies of approximately 500 to 2000 Hz. These responses have detection thresholds that are approximately 10 dB more sensitive than auditory brainstem responses, and they are very sharply tuned. These measurements may provide a nontraumatic means of repeatedly assessing cochlear functions involved in sound localization and perception of vocalizations.
Henry
K R
KR
Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis 95616-8686, USA. krhenry@ucdavis.edu
D000818:Animals; D001309:Auditory Threshold / Q000502:physiology; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000502:physiology; D003055:Cochlear Microphonic Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D003056:Cochlear Nerve / Q000502:physiology*; D016057:Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D008144:Loudness Perception / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008808:Mice, Inbred CBA; D010898:Pitch Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013017:Sound Localization / Q000502:physiology*; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D014828:Vocalization, Animal / Q000502:physiology*