Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 2 Electrical and Computer Engineering Program, Texas A&M University at Qatar, Education City, Doha, 23874, Qatar
  • 3 Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, University of Minnesota, 164 Pillsbury Drive SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
  • 4 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. khairi@um.edu.my
Exp Brain Res, 2019 Jun;237(6):1479-1491.
PMID: 30903206 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-019-05511-4

Abstract

Various studies on medial olivocochlear (MOC) efferents have implicated it in multiple roles in the auditory system (e.g., dynamic range adaptation, masking reduction, and selective attention). This study presents a systematic simulation of inferior colliculus (IC) responses with and without electrical stimulation of the MOC. Phenomenological models of the responses of auditory nerve (AN) fibers and IC neurons were used to this end. The simulated responses were highly consistent with physiological data (replicated 3 of the 4 known rate-level responses all MOC effects-shifts, high stimulus level reduction and enhancement). Complex MOC efferent effects which were previously thought to require integration from different characteristic frequency (CF) neurons were simulated using the same frequency inhibition excitation circuitry. MOC-induced enhancing effects were found only in neurons with a CF range from 750 Hz to 2 kHz. This limited effect is indicative of the role of MOC activation on the AN responses at the stimulus offset.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.