<p>Once thought to be predominantly the domain of cortex, multisensory integration has now been found at numerous sub-cortical locations in the auditory pathway. Prominent ascending and descending connection within the pathway suggest that the system may utilize non-auditory activity to help filter incoming sounds as they first enter the ear. Active mechanisms in the periphery, particularly the outer hair cells (OHCs) of the cochlea and middle ear muscles (MEMs), are capable of modulating the sensitivity of other peripheral mechanisms involved in the transduction of sound into the system. Through indirect mechanical coupling of the OHCs and MEMs to the eardrum, motion of these mechanisms can be recorded as acoustic signals in the ear canal. Here, we utilize this recording technique to describe three different experiments that demonstrate novel multisensory interactions occurring at the level of the eardrum. 1) In the first experiment, measurements in humans and monkeys performing a saccadic eye movement task to visual targets indicate that the eardrum oscillates in conjunction with eye movements. The amplitude and phase of the eardrum movement, which we dub the Oscillatory Saccadic Eardrum Associated Response or OSEAR, depended on the direction and horizontal amplitude of the saccade and occurred in the absence of any externally delivered sounds. 2) For the second experiment, we use an audiovisual cueing task to demonstrate a dynamic change to pressure levels in the ear when a sound is expected versus when one is not. Specifically, we observe a drop in frequency power and variability from 0.1 to 4kHz around the time when the sound is expected to occur in contract to a slight increase in power at both lower and higher frequencies. 3) For the third experiment, we show that seeing a speaker say a syllable that is incongruent with the accompanying audio can alter the response patterns of the auditory periphery, particularly during the most relevant moments in the speech stream. These visually influenced changes may contribute to the altered percept of the speech sound. Collectively, we presume that these findings represent the combined effect of OHCs and MEMs acting in tandem in response to various non-auditory signals in order to manipulate the receptive properties of the auditory system. These influences may have a profound, and previously unrecognized, impact on how the auditory system processes sounds from initial sensory transduction all the way to perception and behavior. Moreover, we demonstrate that the entire auditory system is, fundamentally, a multisensory system.</p> / Dissertation

Sustained resonance in a linear oscillator is achievable with a drive whose constant frequency matches the resonant frequency of the oscillator. In oscillators with nonlinear restoring forces, i.e., Dung-type oscillators, resonant frequency changes with amplitude, so a constant frequency drive generates a beat oscillation instead of sustained resonance. Dung-type oscillators can be driven into sustained resonance, called autoresonance (AR), when drive frequency is swept in time to match the changing resonant frequency of the oscillator. It is found that near-optimal drive linear sweep rates for autoresonance can be estimated from the beat oscillation resulting from constant frequency excitation. Specically, a least squares estimate of the slope of the Teager-Kaiser instantaneous frequency versus time plot for the rising half-cycle of the beat response to a stationary drive provides a near-optimal estimate of the linear drive sweep rate that sustains resonance in the pendulum, Dung and Dung-Van der Pol oscillators. These predictions are confirmed with model-based numerical simulations. A closed-form approximation to the AM-FM nonlinear resonance beat response of a Dung oscillator driven at its low-amplitude oscillator frequency is obtained from a solution to an associated Mathieu equation. AR time responses are found to evolve along a Mathieu equation primary resonance stability boundary. AR breakdown occurs at sweep rates just past optimal and map to a single stable point just off the Mathieu equation primary resonance stability boundary. Optimal AR sweep rates produce oscillating phase dierences with extrema near 90 degrees, allowing extended time in resonance. AR breakdown occurs when phase difference equals 180 degrees. Nonlinear resonance of the van der Pol type may play a role in the extraordinary sensitivity of the human ear. / The mechanism for maintaining the cochlear amplifier at its critical point is currently unknown. The possibility of open-loop control of cochlear operating point, maintaining criticality on average through periodically varying damping (super-regeneration) motivates a study of spontaneous otoacoustic emission (SOAE) amplitude modulation on a short (msec) time scale. An example of periodic amplitude modulation within a wide filter bandwidth is found that appears to be a beat oscillation of two SOAEs. / by Carey Witkov. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

The middle ear system is a vital component in the propagation mechanism of otoacoustic emissions. As such, investigation of the effect of variation in middle ear impedance on the measurement of emissions is warranted. Distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) have gained recognition as a means of gaining frequency specific information on auditory function. As the effects of changes in middle ear impedance will vary as a function of frequency, a clear definition of the relationship between middle ear impedance and DPOAE amplitude across the frequency spectrum is needed. Twenty adults (ages 20-37) with normal hearing and normal middle ear function were selected as subjects. Commercially available equipment (Virtual 330) was used to measure the DPOAEs on all subjects. The unit was modified to change canal pressure by coupling the probe to the pressure pump of a clinical acoustic immittance system. One ear from each subject was randomly selected for measurement and each subject was tested under five pressure conditions: +200, O, -200, -300, -400 daPa. The mean frequency of the fl/f2 tone pairs swept from 500 to 8000 Hz. Results indicate that changes in ear canal pressure can effect the amplitude of DPOAEs. Alteration of ear canal pressure resulted in decreased emission amplitude. This effect was found to differ as a function of eliciting frequency with the greatest reduction in amplitude with the mean of the primaries at 500 Hz. Less variation was noted across the ear canal pressures with the higher frequency stimuli. These results are consistent with previous findings reported regarding the effects of impedance changes on spontaneous and transiently evoked otoacoustic emissions.

Bandpass filtered transient-evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE) waveforms are composed of short-latency (SL) and long-latency (LL) portions. The LL portion has latency consistent with generation through linear coherent reflection at the tonotopic place on the basilar membrane. The short-latency (SL) portion occurs earlier in time and exhibits less compressive growth. Several mechanisms have been hypothesized to explain generation of the SL portion, including 2f1-f2 intermodulation distortion and coherent reflection basal to the tonotopic place. Two experiments were designed to examine the generation mechanism and generation location of the SL portion. Experiment 1 tests the hypothesis that the SL portion results from low-side, cubic intermodulation distortion. Experiment 2 determines the region along the basilar membrane at which the SL portion of the TEOAE is generated. The null hypothesis that the SL portion of the TEOAE is generated through low-side, cubic intermodulation distortion requires stimuli with broad frequency content. Stimulus energy at different frequencies (f1 and f2) is presumed to interact simultaneously across the cochlear partition, generating a distortion-source OAE. To test this hypothesis, OAEs were evoked using 2 kHz tone-bursts with durations spanning the time-frequency continuum between a click and a pure tone. As tone-burst duration increases, stimulus energy at the primary frequencies (f1 and f2) decreases and the input to any nonlinear distortion source is reduced. Accordingly, if generated through 2f1-f2 distortion, the magnitude of the SL portion of the TEOAE was expected to decrease as tone-burst duration increased. Results were inconsistent with generation of the SL portion through intermodulation distortion. As tone-burst duration increased, the SL portion remained present in the TEOAE. The presence of the SL portion influenced the level-dependency of TEOAE latency and magnitude to the same extent across all tone-burst durations. The region of generation along the cochlear partition of the SL portion has implications for the mechanism through which it is generated. Generation through low-side, cubic intermodulation distortion (2f1-f2) would occur near the f2 tonotopic place. If generation is through coherent reflection, a generation region basal to that of the tonotopic place is hypothesized. To determine the cochlear region where the SL portion is generated, TEOAEs were evoked by 2 kHz tone-bursts in the presence of different suppressor stimuli. The amount of suppression induced by each suppressor on the OAE was measured, and the suppressor frequency causing greatest suppression of a given portion of the TEOAE was interpreted as corresponding to that portion's generation place along the basilar membrane. For analysis purposes, the SL portion was divided into two SL time-windows (SL1 and SL2). The LL portion of the TEOAE was maximally suppressed by a 2.07 kHz tone, consistent with generation at the tonotopic place. Both SL components were generated basal to the tonotopic place. The later-occurring SL portion of the TEOAE (SL1) was generated between 1/4-1/3-octave basal to the tonotopic place while the earlier-occurring SL portion (SL2) was generated 3/5-octave basal to the tonotopic place. The generation region of the SL1 portion of the TEOAE was too apical to be consistent with generation through 2f1-f2 distortion. Although the generation region of the SL2 portion was what would be expected for a 2f1-f2 distortion-source OAE, the latency was too early. Generation of both SL portions may be explained through basal linear coherent reflection. Per this mode of generation, the SL1 and SL2 portions of the TEOAE each likely mirror the underlying mechanics at different regions along the cochlear partition.

Thesis (M. Communication Pathology)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Summary in English and Afrikaans. Includes bibliographical references.

Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE) are minute acoustic responses originating from the cochlea as a result of an external acoustic stimulus and are recorded using a sensitive microphone placed in the ear canal. OAEs are acquired by synchronous stimulation with an acoustic click or tone burst and recording of the post-stimulus responses. This method of acquiring OAEs is known as transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEAOE) and is commonly used in clinics as a screening method for hearing and cochlear functionality in infants. Recently, a novel method of acquiring OAEs utilizing a swept-tone, or chirp, as a stimulus was developed. This method used a deconvolution process to compress the swept tone response into an impulse or click-like response. Because the human ear does not hear all frequencies (pitches) at equal loudness the swept-tone stimulus was equalized in amplitude with respect to frequency. This equalized stimulus will be perceived by the ear as equally loud in all frequencies. In this study a new hearing level equalized stimulus was designed and the OAE responses were analyzed and compared to conventional click evoked OAEs. The equalized swept-tone stimulus evoked greater magnitude OAE responses when compared to the conventional methods. It was also able to evoke responses in subjects that had little TEOAEs which might fail conventional hearing screening.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 88-91).

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 44-48).

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-73).

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2004. / Title from title frame. Also available in printed format.