Medial olivocochlear efferent (MOCE) neurones innervate the outer hair cells (OHCs) of the mammalian cochlea, and convey signals that are capable of controlling the sensitivity of the peripheral auditory system in a frequency-specific manner. Recent methodological developments have allowed the effects of the MOCE system to be observed in vivo at the level of the basilar membrane (BM). These observations have confirmed earlier theories that at least some of the MOCE's effects are mediated via the cochlea's mechanics, with the OHCs acting as the mechanical effectors. However, the new observations have also provided some unexpected twists: apparently, the MOCEs can enhance the BM's responses to some sounds while inhibiting its responses to others, and they can alter the BM's response to a single sound using at least two separate mechanisms. Such observations put new constraints on the way in which the cochlea's mechanics, and the OHCs in particular, are thought to operate.

The micromechanical mechanisms that underpin tuning and dynamic range compression in the mammalian inner ear are fundamental to hearing, but poorly understood. Here, we present new, high-resolution optical measurements that directly map sound-evoked vibrations on to anatomical structures in the intact, living gerbil cochlea. The largest vibrations occur in a tightly delineated hotspot centering near the interface between the Deiters’ and outer hair cells. Hotspot vibrations are less sharply tuned, but more nonlinear, than basilar membrane vibrations, and behave non-monotonically (exhibiting hyper-compression) near their characteristic frequency. Amplitude and phase differences between hotspot and basilar membrane responses depend on both frequency and measurement angle, and indicate that hotspot vibrations involve longitudinal motion. We hypothesize that structural coupling between the Deiters’ and outer hair cells funnels sound-evoked motion into the hotspot region, under the control of the outer hair cells, to optimize cochlear tuning and compression.

Mechanical responses to one- and two-tone stimuli were recorded from the basilar membrane (BM) in the hook region of the guinea-pig cochlea. The most sensitive or "best" frequencies (BFs) for the sites studied were approximately 25-30 kHz. Two-tone suppression (2TS) of the responses to near BF probe tones was noted using suppressor tones either above or below the BF. Rates of growth of 2TS were highest (approximately 1 dB/dB) when the suppressor tones were presented below the BF. Below-BF suppression thresholds (the suppressor intensities causing approximately 10% reduction in the probe-evoked responses) corresponded to BM displacements of approximately 1-5 nm. Above-BF suppression thresholds corresponded to much smaller displacements at the location studied. Both above- and below-BF suppressor tones changed the phase of the probe tone responses in the same way that increases in the probe tone intensity did (they evoked small phase-lags for below-BF probes, and small phase-leads for near- and above-BF probes). Low-frequency suppressor tones ( < approximately 7 kHz) evoked a frequency- and intensity-dependent mixture of phasic (ac) and tonic (dc) suppression. Peak (ac) suppression was observed around the times of peak BM displacement (not velocity). These findings are discussed in relation to those of other workers.

No abstract