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The Conductive Hearing Loss Due to an Experimentally Induced Middle Ear Effusion Alters the Interaural Level and Time Difference Cues to Sound Location

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Abstract

Otitis media with effusion (OME) is a pathologic condition of the middle ear that leads to a mild to moderate conductive hearing loss as a result of fluid in the middle ear. Recurring OME in children during the first few years of life has been shown to be associated with poor detection and recognition of sounds in noisy environments, hypothesized to result due to altered sound localization cues. To explore this hypothesis, we simulated a middle ear effusion by filling the middle ear space of chinchillas with different viscosities and volumes of silicone oil to simulate varying degrees of OME. While the effects of middle ear effusions on the interaural level difference (ILD) cue to location are known, little is known about whether and how middle ear effusions affect interaural time differences (ITDs). Cochlear microphonic amplitudes and phases were measured in response to sounds delivered from several locations in azimuth before and after filling the middle ear with fluid. Significant attenuations (20–40 dB) of sound were observed when the middle ear was filled with at least 1.0 ml of fluid with a viscosity of 3.5 Poise (P) or greater. As expected, ILDs were altered by ~30 dB. Additionally, ITDs were shifted by ~600 μs for low frequency stimuli (<4 kHz) due to a delay in the transmission of sound to the inner ear. The data show that in an experimental model of OME, ILDs and ITDs are shifted in the spatial direction of the ear without the experimental effusion.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Deafness and Other Communicative Disorders (NIDCD) Grant F31-DC011198-01, T32-NS007083, and T32-HD041697 to JLT and NIDCD R01-DC011555 to DJT. Support for the initial phases of this work was provided by the National Organization for Hearing Research (NOHR) Evie & Ron Krancer Grant in Auditory Science to DJT. Support was also provided by an American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) resident research grant to JEL. We thank Dr. Sukumar Vijayaraghavan for the help with the TTX.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroscience Training Program, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA

    Jennifer L. Thornton & Daniel J. Tollin

  2. Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Anschutz Medical Campus, Mail Stop 8307, 12800 East 19th Avenue, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA

    Jennifer L. Thornton, Keely M. Chevallier, Kanthaiah Koka & Daniel J. Tollin

  3. Department of Otolaryngology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA

    J. Eric Lupo & Daniel J. Tollin

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  1. Jennifer L. Thornton
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  2. Keely M. Chevallier
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  3. Kanthaiah Koka
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  4. J. Eric Lupo
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  5. Daniel J. Tollin
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Correspondence to Daniel J. Tollin.

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Thornton, J.L., Chevallier, K.M., Koka, K. et al. The Conductive Hearing Loss Due to an Experimentally Induced Middle Ear Effusion Alters the Interaural Level and Time Difference Cues to Sound Location. JARO 13, 641–654 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10162-012-0335-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10162-012-0335-2

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