Mild hearing loss eliminates otoacoustic emissions but not psychoacoustic efferent measures

Evidence

Otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) are faint sounds that travel from the cochlea back through the middle ear and are measured in the external auditory canal. Since their discovery in the late 1970s by David Kemp ( 1978 ), they have been used in the clinic to evaluate the health of outer hair cells (OHC) and in research to gain scientific insight into cochlear mechanics. Behaviorally they have been shown to predict the pattern of pure-tone quiet thresholds (Long and Tubis 1988 ; Lee and Long 2012 ; Dewey and Dhar 2014 ), auditory frequency selectivity, (Baiduc et al. 2014 ), and loudness perception (Mauermann et al. 2004 ). — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5757 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Three rows of outer hair cells and one row of inner hair cells line the length of the cochlea. The outer hair cells are responsible for enhancing the vibration on the basilar membrane, particularly at low levels, sharpening the tuning of the vibration on the basilar membrane, and compressing the range of vibration represented by the basilar membrane. These hair cells lead to the mammalian ability to hear very low level sounds, and loss of these hair cells can cause a reduction in hearing sensitivity up to about 60 dB (Sellick et al., 1982). — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 228 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Human efferent tuning measured psychoacoustically matches otoacoustic-emission measures; Cochlear otoacoustic emissions measurably shift behavioral thresholds, selectivity, and loudness — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5757; Outer hair cell loss reduces hearing sensitivity by up to 60 dB — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 228 (+1 more)

Related

• Cochlear otoacoustic emissions measurably shift behavioral thresholds, selectivity, and loudness (similarity 0.90)
• Outer hair cell loss reduces hearing sensitivity by up to 60 dB (similarity 0.89)
• Otoacoustic emissions non-invasively probe outer hair cell function in humans. (similarity 0.88)
• Missing otoacoustic emissions reveal conductive or cochlear but not retrocochlear defects (similarity 0.88)
• Noise-induced hearing loss begins with impairment of outer hair cells (similarity 0.87)
• Active outer hair cell processing boosts internal response levels by up to 40 dB (similarity 0.86)
• The cochlea actively amplifies sound and emits echoes that reveal inner-ear health (similarity 0.84)
• Human efferent tuning measured psychoacoustically matches otoacoustic-emission measures (similarity 0.84)
• Excess noise damages cochlear hair cells through several distinct mechanisms (similarity 0.83)
• Outer hair cells respond better than inner hair cells to low-frequency sound (similarity 0.83)
• Outer hair cell damage removes cochlear compressive nonlinearity (similarity 0.83)
• Outer hair cell loss is the primary driver of loudness recruitment (similarity 0.83)
• Outer hair cells sit where basilar membrane vibration is greatest (similarity 0.82)
• Outer-hair-cell damage destroys the cochlea’s compressive nonlinearity, which hearing aids try to rebuild. (similarity 0.82)
• Loud noise damage can make the cochlea spontaneously generate its own noise (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Cochlear otoacoustic emissions measurably shift behavioral thresholds, selectivity, and loudness #complicates (0.80) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5757
• Outer hair cell loss reduces hearing sensitivity by up to 60 dB #qualifies (0.75) — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 228