Outer hair cell damage removes cochlear compressive nonlinearity

Evidence

Consider that sensorineural hearing loss is almost always associated with a loss of outer hair cells. Absent or damaged outer hair cells cause low-level sounds to be inaudible and contribute to a loss of the compressive nonlinearity within the cochlea. Loss of the compressive nonlinearity changes the cochlear response and has a particularly profound effect on the representation of sounds that fluctuate over time. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1097