Evidence for a cortically mediated release from inhibition in the human cochlea.
OBJECTIVE
To determine cortical influence on the efferent medial olivocochlear bundle system.


METHODS
The effects of attention on contralateral suppression (CS) of click-evoked otoacoustic emissions were measured.


METHODS
Fifteen normal-hearing listeners.


RESULTS
CS was greatest in the nonattending condition and decreased significantly when attending to the click or broadband noise suppressor. The effects of attention on CS were not frequency dependent or due to changes in recording noise measures.


CONCLUSIONS
Attention to either the ipsilateral, evoking stimulus or the contralateral suppressor causes a top-down, cortically mediated release from inhibition at the level of the cochlea that is measurable with common audiologic protocols and instrumentation. Future studies assessing the effects of attention on CS of click-evoked otoacoustic emissions in normal controls and individuals with various auditory or attentional deficits may provide valuable information about the capabilities of the cortex to affect peripheral processing in a normal and/or pathological system.
Harkrider
Ashley W
AW
Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA. aharkrid@utk.edu
Bowers
C Dane
CD
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D003051:Cochlea / Q000502:physiology*; D017626:Cochlear Nucleus / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006309:Hearing / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009433:Neural Inhibition; D009847:Olivary Nucleus / Q000502:physiology*; D017084:Otoacoustic Emissions, Spontaneous; D055815:Young Adult