Cochlear generation of intermodulation distortion revealed by DPOAE frequency functions in normal and impaired ears

Distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) frequency functions were measured in normal-hearing and hearing-impaired ears. A fixed-f2/swept-f1 paradigm was used with f2 fixed at half-octave intervals from 1 to 8 kHz. L1 was always 10 dB greater than L2, and L2 was varied from 65 to 10 dB SPL in 5-dB steps. The responses were quantified by the frequency and amplitude of the peak response. Peak responses were closer to f2 in higher frequency regions and for lower intensity stimulation. Results from hearing-impaired subjects suggest that audiometric thresholds at the distortion product frequency, fdp, in addition to hearing status at f2, can affect DPOAE results. Results are discussed in terms of several manifestations of a second resonance model, as well as a dual source model for the generation of DPOAEs as measured in the ear canal of humans. It appears that a dual source model accounts for the data better than second filter models.