The cochlear mechanical basis of otoacoustic emissions

这个项目将研究从耳朵里发出声音的物理机制。这些声音被称为耳声发射，具有极大的科学价值和潜在的巨大临床意义。它们提供了内耳功能的客观衡量标准，与一种在英国影响超过800万人的听力损失密切相关。该项目将资助动物实验(在啮齿动物身上进行)，将不同声音组合引起的耳声发射与相同声音在内耳引起的机械事件进行比较。我们将使用专门制造的激光干涉仪来监测内耳不同部分的膜的声音诱发运动，并将其与新型声刺激组合的使用相结合，以使我们能够区分进入？的声音的运动模式。然后呢？走出了？耳朵。这将使我们能够准确地确定耳声发射在耳朵内的哪里产生，并应导致我们对正常耳朵功能的理解方式的显著改善。我们将研究的机制，包括内耳内声音的放大和反射，很可能与人类的机制几乎相同。因此，该项目应与人类听力直接相关。这项研究的主要结果将在国际上受尊敬的科学期刊上报道，并在英国和国外的联合科学和医学会议上公布。在项目期间创造的知识也将被纳入关于听力和耳聋的公开演讲中。

This project will investigate the physical mechanisms underlying sounds that come out of the ears. These sounds, which are known as otoacoustic emissions, are of great scientific interest and potentially huge clinical importance. They provide an objective measure of inner ear function, and are highly relevant to a form of hearing loss that affects over 8 million people in the UK. The project will fund animal experiments (performed on rodents) which will compare the otoacoustic emissions evoked by various combinations of sounds with the mechanical events that are evoked in the inner ear by the same sounds. We will use a purpose-built laser interferometer to monitor the sound-evoked motion of membranes in various parts of the inner ear, and we will combine this with the use of novel combinations of acoustic stimuli to allow us to distinguish between the motion patterns of sounds travelling ?into? and ?out of? the ear. This will allow us to determine exactly where the otoacoustic emissions are produced within the ear, and should lead to significant improvements in the way that we understand the normal ear to function. The mechanisms that we will study, including both the amplification and reflection of sound within the inner ear, are likely to be almost identical to those occurring in humans. The project should therefore be of direct relevance to human hearing. The main outcomes of the study will be reported in internationally-respected scientific journals, and presented at joint scientific and medical conferences in the UK and abroad. The knowledge created during the project will also be incorporated into public presentations about hearing and deafness.