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Efferent unmasking of speech-in-noise encoding?

S B Smith¹, B Cone²

¹Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.

International Journal of Audiology

|January 11, 2021

Summary

The medial olivocochlear (MOC) reflex does not appear to aid speech-in-noise neural encoding, as measured by speech frequency following responses (sFFR). No significant correlations were found between MOC reflex strength and sFFR unmasking in young adults.

Keywords:

Efferent frequency following response medial olivocochlear reflex otoacoustic emissions

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Area of Science:

Auditory Neuroscience
Human Hearing Research
Neuroscience

Background:

The medial olivocochlear (MOC) reflex modulates cochlear sensitivity via efferent pathways.
Previous research suggests the MOC reflex aids in "unmasking" auditory signals in noise.
Its precise functional role in human speech perception remains incompletely understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the relationship between pre-neural MOC reflex strength and neural encoding of speech in noise.
To assess if MOC reflex activation improves speech-frequency following response (sFFR) measures of signal-in-noise processing.

Main Methods:

Measured MOC reflex strength using click-evoked otoacoustic emission (CEOAE) inhibition in 18 young adults.
Recorded sFFR in quiet and various noise conditions (ipsilateral, contralateral, combined).
Correlated CEOAE inhibition measures with sFFR "unmasking" in time and frequency domains.

Main Results:

No significant sFFR unmasking effects were observed.
No correlations were found between MOC reflex strength and sFFR unmasking.
These findings were consistent across time and frequency analyses.

Conclusions:

The MOC reflex may not play a significant role in the neural encoding of speech in noise for the tested signal-to-noise ratios.
The study's findings do not support the hypothesis linking MOC reflex function to sFFR-based speech-in-noise processing.