The MOCR’s unmasking role remains unproven in direct human experiments

Evidence

A direct demonstration would require being able to selectively deactivate the MOCR while keeping afferent auditory nerve fibres functional. To our knowledge, such an experiment has not been possible for human subjects up until now. Here, we argue that the experiment can be done in an approximate manner using cochlear implants (CIs). … Cochlear implant users thus lack MOCR effects, but these effects can be reinstated, and thus the role(s) of the MOCR in hearing can be assessed by using dynamic rather than fixed compression functions. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 1939

Categorization

• QUESTION: A key methodological insight: why has no one been able to selectively deactivate MOCR efferents in humans while preserving afferent nerve function? This is the central experimental gap in the field.
• SEED: A lecture or essay on ‘the experiments we cannot yet run’ — using CI users as a natural experiment to test a mechanism that cannot be isolated in healthy ears.