Cochlear neuropathy harms supra-threshold encoding because noise targets high-threshold auditory fibers

Evidence

Cochlear neuropathy is associated with a reduction in the number and types of auditory nerve (AN) fibers responsible for robust afferent transmission of sound (Kujawa and Liberman 2009 ). Whereas cochlear gain loss affects the whole dynamic range of sound intensities, cochlear neuropathy is thought to affect sound encoding at supra-threshold levels as high-threshold AN fibers are most sensitive to noise exposure (Furman et al. 2013 ). — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5873

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader hidden-hearing-loss literature (Kujawa & Liberman synaptopathy) distinguishing OHC gain loss from AN neuropathy, familiar territory given the reading history. — connects to: Sisomycin completely destroys cochlear hair cells and causes progressive neural degeneration — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 2279; Auditory neuropathy severely impairs fine-structure processing while preserving envelope use; Mandarin tone perception accuracy falls from 97 percent to 63 percent in auditory neuropathy (+9 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5873

Broader Connections

• Hidden hearing loss can impair speech in noise without raising thresholds #corroborates (0.82)
• Inner-ear damage permanently corrupts higher-level auditory perception, not just thresholds #corroborates (0.78) — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 1879
• Sound localization deficits in hearing loss come from neural coding changes, not audibility. #corroborates (0.75)
• Loss of cochlear compression alone impairs hearing soft syllables amid louder ones #corroborates (0.75) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 4046
• Recovered hearing thresholds can mask permanent neural damage #complicates (0.70) — , Toole, Floyd E - Sound reproduction-…, 1815