[Role of the basal cochlea in the genesis of evoked acoustic oto-emissions in the subject with normal hearing]

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the role of the basal part of the cochlea (8-16 kHz) on the genesis of evoked otoacoustic emissions (EOEs) in normally hearing subjects (0.25-8 kHz thresholds below or equal to 20 dBHL). This study was realized on 43 subjects. The EOEs were generated by a linear click of 0 dB (ILO88 Ref.). The high-frequency (8-16 kHz) audiometric thresholds varied between 30 and 74 dBHL while conventional audiometric thresholds were below 20 dBHL. Correlation studies between EOE amplitude and audiometric thresholds were statistically significant only when the high frequency thresholds were considered. Those data are a new argument for the hypothesis that EOEs are generated by the global cochlear activity.