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Influence of focused auditory attention on cochlear activity in humans
- Source :
- Psychophysiology. 38:35-40
- Publication Year :
- 2001
- Publisher :
- Wiley, 2001.
-
Abstract
- The mammalian auditory system contains descending pathways that originate in the cortex and relay at various intermediate levels before reaching the peripheral sensory organ of Corti. The last link in this chain consists of the olivocochlear bundle. The activity of this bundle can be measured through otoacoustic emissions, which are acoustic signatures of the cochlear biomechanical activity. In the present study, it was hypothesized that frequency-specific activation of the olivocochlear bundle in the contralateral ear would show up as frequency-specific variations in otoacoustic emission amplitude in the ipsilateral ear. Two groups of young adult subjects participated in this experiment. Evoked otoacoustic emissions were recorded in the ipsilateral ear at two test frequencies (1 and 2 kHz). Subjects had to detect probe tones at a given frequency in background noise in the contralateral ear. Larger efferent activation was measured at test frequencies on which attention is focused. This result provides evidence for an influence of attention on the auditory periphery via descending projections.
- Subjects :
- Adult
Male
medicine.medical_specialty
Cognitive Neuroscience
media_common.quotation_subject
Efferent
Otoacoustic emission
Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Audiology
Developmental Neuroscience
Perception
Cortex (anatomy)
otorhinolaryngologic diseases
medicine
Humans
Auditory system
Attention
Inner ear
Biological Psychiatry
Cochlea
media_common
Communication
Endocrine and Autonomic Systems
business.industry
General Neuroscience
Electrophysiology
Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
medicine.anatomical_structure
Acoustic Stimulation
Neurology
Female
sense organs
business
Psychology
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14698986 and 00485772
- Volume :
- 38
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Psychophysiology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....7ecddb3bac9376645b32dc5f89ba5880