Contralateral acoustic stimulation induces a phase advance in evoked otoacoustic emissions in humans

In 28 normal-hearing human subjects, the medial olivocochlear efferent system was activated by contralateral acoustic stimulation which is able to mimic the inhibitory effects of electrical stimulation of the crossed olivocochlear bundle. A first experiment on 16 subjects demonstrated that a contralateral white noise of 35 dB SL was able to induce temporal changes on transiently evoked otoacoustic emissions in response to clicks of 63 dB SPL. These temporal changes consisted of an advance of click-evoked otoacoustic signals in 87% of cases and is referred to as phase-shift effect. The phase advance, quantified using two signal processing methods in both time and frequency domains, was found to be mainly associated with lower frequencies, with a maximal effect at 1.5 kHz and minimal effects around 3.5 and 4 kHz. In a second experiment, carried out on 12 subjects, a negative relationship was found to exist between the ipsilateral stimulation level (level of clicks ranging from 57 to 69 dB SPL) and the phase-shift effect (PSE). Specifically in the range of levels tested (25-45 dB SL), a linear relationship presenting no obvious saturation effect was observed between the contralateral level and the PSE. The PSE was examined in 6 additional subjects exhibiting pathological symptoms; 2 of 3 individuals, who had no contralateral stapedial reflexes unilaterally, showed the PSE whereas this response was reduced or absent in 3 other subjects in the ear with severed efferents associated with a vestibular neurotomy. The integrity of olivocochlear efferents was, therefore, necessary to obtain a full effect, but the absence of stapedial reflex did not prevent the effect from occurring.