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The rate of cochlear compression in a dolphin: a forward-masking evoked-potential study

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Abstract

The “active” cochlear mechanism of hearing manifests in the cochlear compression. Investigations of compression in odontocetes help to determine the frequency limit of the active mechanism. The compression may be evaluated by comparison of low- and on-frequency masking. In a bottlenose dolphin, forward masking of auditory evoked potentials to tonal pips was investigated. Measurements were performed for test frequencies of 45 and 90 kHz. The low-frequency maskers were − 0.25 to − 0.75 oct relative the test. Masking efficiency was varied by masker-to-test delay variation from 2 to 20 ms, and masker levels at threshold (MLTs) were evaluated at each of the delays. It was assumed that low-frequency maskers were not subjected or little subjected to compression whereas on-frequency maskers were subjected equally to the test. Therefore, the compression rate was assessed as the slope of low-frequency MLT dependence on on-frequency MLT. For the 90-kHz test, the slopes were 0.63 and 0.18 dB/dB for masker of − 0.25 and − 0.5 oct, respectively. For the 45 kHz test, the slopes were 0.69 and 0.39 dB/dB for maskers of − 0.25 and − 0.5 oct. So, compression did not decay at the upper boundary of the hearing frequency range in the dolphin.

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Abbreviations

AEP:

Auditory evoked potential

ERD:

Equivalent rectangular duration

MLT:

Masker level at threshold

OAE:

Otoacoustic emission

RMS:

Root-mean-square

SD:

Standard deviation

SPL:

Sound pressure level

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Funding

The study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Grant # 18-04-00088 to VVP).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    Vladimir V. Popov, Dmitry I. Nechaev, Evgenia V. Sysueva & Alexander Ya. Supin

Authors
  1. Vladimir V. Popov
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  2. Dmitry I. Nechaev
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  3. Evgenia V. Sysueva
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  4. Alexander Ya. Supin
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Correspondence to Vladimir V. Popov.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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The keeping and experimental conditions were approved by the Ethics Committee of the Institute of Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution (№ 31 from 30.04.2019).

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Popov, V.V., Nechaev, D.I., Sysueva, E.V. et al. The rate of cochlear compression in a dolphin: a forward-masking evoked-potential study. J Comp Physiol A 206, 757–766 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-020-01435-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-020-01435-5

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