Plinkert P K, Gitter A H, Zenner H P
Department of Otolaryngology, University of Tübingen, Germany.
Acta Otolaryngol. 1990 Nov-Dec;110(5-6):342-7. doi: 10.3109/00016489009107453.
In the mammalian inner ear, active mechanical processes contribute to cochlear micromechanics. Direct evidence of these are spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAE) which have been registered in the human and animal ear canal. In mammals, outer hair cells (OHC) seem to be the origin of this mechanical energy, because they exhibit motile responses to various stimuli. Here we report on bilateral tinnitus and bilateral SOAE with both acoustical phenomena located in the same frequency range. In a playback of the SOAEs their frequences were identified as the pitch of the tinnitus. An additional criterion favoring a common pathomechanism of SOAEs and tinnitus resulted from masking effects. Tinnitus and SOAEs from both sides were suppressed by the same tone, which indicates that the involved pathways are identical. Therefore we suggest that pathological long-term movements of only a small number of OHCs underlie both phenomena. From the SOAE emission spectra we calculated that not more than 60 OHCs might be involved.
在哺乳动物内耳中，主动机械过程对耳蜗微力学有贡献。其直接证据是已在人类和动物耳道中记录到的自发性耳声发射（SOAE）。在哺乳动物中，外毛细胞（OHC）似乎是这种机械能的来源，因为它们对各种刺激表现出能动性反应。在此我们报告双侧耳鸣和双侧SOAE，这两种声学现象位于相同频率范围内。在回放SOAE时，其频率被确定为耳鸣的音调。支持SOAE和耳鸣共同发病机制的另一个标准来自掩蔽效应。双侧的耳鸣和SOAE被同一音调抑制，这表明所涉及的通路是相同的。因此我们认为，仅少量OHC的病理性长期运动是这两种现象的基础。从SOAE发射光谱我们计算出，可能涉及的OHC不超过60个。
