Study of the So-called Cochlear Mechanical Tinnitus

Abstract

Stimulated oto-acoustic emission (OAE) was investigated in 225 ears with normal hearing and c⁵ dip hearing loss. Continual OAE persisting longer than 6 ms against the sound stimulation of relatively low intensities was frequently found in ears affected by tinnitus but without hearing loss and in the tinnitus ears with c⁵ dip hearing loss. The results suggest that there is an abnormality of cochlear micromechanics in these ears which might be related to the ‘cochlear mechanical tinnitus’ described by Kemp & Wilson in 1981.

Key Words:

• continual OAE
• tinnitus
• near normal cochlea
• cochlear micromechanics