title: Recovery of distortion-product otoacoustic emissions after a 2-kHz monaural sound-exposure in humans: effects on fine structures.
abstract: A better understanding of the vulnerability of the fine structures of distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) after acoustic overexposure may improve the knowledge about DPOAE generation, cochlear damage, and lead to more efficient diagnostic tools. It is studied whether the DPOAE fine structures of 16 normal-hearing human subjects are systematically affected after a moderate monaural sound-exposure of 10 min to a 2-kHz tone normalized to an exposure level L(EX,8h) of 80 dBA. DPOAEs were measured before and in the following 70 min after the exposure. The experimental protocol allowed measurements with high time and frequency resolution in a 1/3-octave band centered at 3 kHz. On average, DPOAE levels were reduced approximately 5 dB in the entire measured frequency-range. Statistically significant differences in pre- and post-exposure DPOAE levels were observed up to 70 min after the end of the sound exposure. The results show that the effects on fine structures are highly individual and no systematic change was observed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic Systems, Aalborg University, Fredrik Bajers Vej 7-B5, DK-9220 Aalborg, Denmark. m.a.arandadetoro@gmail.com
authors.forename: Miguel Angel
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Aranda de Toro
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ordoñez
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Reuter
authors.forename: Dorte
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hammershøi
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D004432:Ear, Middle / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006317:Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009622:Noise / Q000009:adverse effects*; D017084:Otoacoustic Emissions, Spontaneous; D020127:Recovery of Function; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult