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Asymmetry and Microstructure of Temporal-Suppression Patterns in Basilar-Membrane Responses to Clicks: Relation to Tonal Suppression and Traveling-Wave Dispersion

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Abstract

The cochlea’s wave-based signal processing allows it to efficiently decompose a complex acoustic waveform into frequency components. Because cochlear responses are nonlinear, the waves arising from one frequency component of a complex sound can be altered by the presence of others that overlap with it in time and space (e.g., two-tone suppression). Here, we investigate the suppression of basilar-membrane (BM) velocity responses to a transient signal (a test click) by another click or tone. We show that the BM response to the click can be reduced when the stimulus is shortly preceded or followed by another (suppressor) click. More surprisingly, the data reveal two curious dependencies on the interclick interval, Δt. First, the temporal suppression curve (amount of suppression vs. Δt) manifests a pronounced and nearly periodic microstructure. Second, temporal suppression is generally strongest not when the two clicks are presented simultaneously (Δt = 0), but when the suppressor click precedes the test click by a time interval corresponding to one to two periods of the best frequency (BF) at the measurement location. By systematically varying the phase of the suppressor click, we demonstrate that the suppression microstructure arises from alternating constructive and destructive interference between the BM responses to the two clicks. And by comparing temporal and tonal suppression in the same animals, we test the hypothesis that the asymmetry of the temporal-suppression curve around Δt = 0 stems from cochlear dispersion and the well-known asymmetry of tonal suppression around the BF. Just as for two-tone suppression, BM responses to clicks are most suppressed by tones at frequencies just above the BF of the measurement location. On average, the frequency place of maximal suppressibility of the click response predicted from temporal-suppression data agrees with the frequency at which tonal suppression peaks, consistent with our hypothesis.

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Acknowledgments

This study is supported by grants R01 DC003687 (CAS), R01 DC011506 (WD), and K99 DC016906 (KKC) from the National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Caruso Department of Otolaryngology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Karolina K. Charaziak, Alessandro Altoè & Christopher A. Shera

  2. Research Service, VA Loma Linda Healthcare System, Loma Linda, CA, USA

    Wei Dong

  3. Department of Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery, Loma Linda University Health, Loma Linda, USA

    Wei Dong

  4. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Christopher A. Shera

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  1. Karolina K. Charaziak
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  2. Wei Dong
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Correspondence to Karolina K. Charaziak.

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Charaziak, K.K., Dong, W., Altoè, A. et al. Asymmetry and Microstructure of Temporal-Suppression Patterns in Basilar-Membrane Responses to Clicks: Relation to Tonal Suppression and Traveling-Wave Dispersion. JARO 21, 151–170 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10162-020-00747-2

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