title: Functional modeling of the human auditory brainstem response to broadband stimulation.
abstract: Population responses such as the auditory brainstem response (ABR) are commonly used for hearing screening, but the relationship between single-unit physiology and scalp-recorded population responses are not well understood. Computational models that integrate physiologically realistic models of single-unit auditory-nerve (AN), cochlear nucleus (CN) and inferior colliculus (IC) cells with models of broadband peripheral excitation can be used to simulate ABRs and thereby link detailed knowledge of animal physiology to human applications. Existing functional ABR models fail to capture the empirically observed 1.2-2 ms ABR wave-V latency-vs-intensity decrease that is thought to arise from level-dependent changes in cochlear excitation and firing synchrony across different tonotopic sections. This paper proposes an approach where level-dependent cochlear excitation patterns, which reflect human cochlear filter tuning parameters, drive AN fibers to yield realistic level-dependent properties of the ABR wave-V. The number of free model parameters is minimal, producing a model in which various sources of hearing-impairment can easily be simulated on an individualized and frequency-dependent basis. The model fits latency-vs-intensity functions observed in human ABRs and otoacoustic emissions while maintaining rate-level and threshold characteristics of single-unit AN fibers. The simulations help to reveal which tonotopic regions dominate ABR waveform peaks at different stimulus intensities.
authors.affiliation: Cluster of Excellence "Hearing4all" and Medizinische Physik, Department of Medical Physics and Acoustics, Oldenburg University, Carl-von-Ossietzky Strasse 9-11, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Verhulst
authors.affiliation: Center of Computational Neuroscience and Neural Technology, Boston University, 677 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Hari M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Bharadwaj
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, 44 Cummington Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Golbarg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mehraei
authors.affiliation: Eaton-Peabody Laboratory, 243 Charles Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Shera
authors.affiliation: Center of Computational Neuroscience and Neural Technology, Boston University, 677 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Barbara G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Shinn-Cunningham
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D001489:Basilar Membrane / Q000502:physiology; D000066949:Biobehavioral Sciences; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000502:physiology*; D003051:Cochlea / Q000502:physiology; D003056:Cochlear Nerve / Q000502:physiology*; D016057:Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem / Q000502:physiology; D006309:Hearing / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D017084:Otoacoustic Emissions, Spontaneous / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D014732:Vibration