Human Whole-Nerve Response to Clicks of Various Frequency

Abstract

The averaged VIIIth nerve response to third-octave clicks at 500, 2 000 and 8 000 Hz was recorded from the promontory of four normal-hearing young adults

As click frequency is lowered, the N₁ latency increases in a manner consistent with the changes in velocity of the cochlear traveling wave. This finding suggests that clicks of different spectral content stimulate different regions of the basilar membrane

N₁ amplitude shows a general increase with frequency; this observation appears related to the increased synchrony of neural firing that results from the higher velocity of the traveling wave in the more basal portions of the cochlea

Key Words:

• Third-octave click
• Electrocochleography
• N₁ latency
• N₂ amplitude
• Traveling wave velocity
• Electric response audiometry (ERA)