Heightened visual attention does not affect inner ear function as measured by otoacoustic emissions
Previous research has indicated that inner ear function might be modulated by visual attention, although the results have not been totally conclusive. Conceivably, modulation of hearing might occur due to stimulation of the cochlea via descending medial olivocochlear (MOC) neurons. The aim of the pr...
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PeerJ Inc.
2017-12-01
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| author | W. Wiktor Jedrzejczak Rafal Milner Lukasz Olszewski Henryk Skarzynski |
| author_facet | W. Wiktor Jedrzejczak Rafal Milner Lukasz Olszewski Henryk Skarzynski |
| author_sort | W. Wiktor Jedrzejczak |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Previous research has indicated that inner ear function might be modulated by visual attention, although the results have not been totally conclusive. Conceivably, modulation of hearing might occur due to stimulation of the cochlea via descending medial olivocochlear (MOC) neurons. The aim of the present study was to test whether increased visual attention caused corresponding changes in inner ear function, which was measured by the strength of otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) recorded from the ear canal in response to a steady train of clicks. To manipulate attention, we asked subjects to attend to, or ignore, visual stimuli delivered according to an odd-ball paradigm. The subjects were presented with two types of visual stimuli: standard and deviant (20% of all stimuli, randomly presented). During a passive part of the experiment, subjects had to just observe a pattern of squares on a computer screen. In an active condition, the subject’s task was to silently count the occasional inverted (deviant) pattern on the screen. At all times, visual evoked potentials (VEPs) were used to objectively gauge the subject’s state of attention, and OAEs in response to clicks (transiently evoked OAEs, TEOAEs) were used to gauge inner ear function. As a test of descending neural activity, TEOAE levels were evaluated with and without contralateral acoustic stimulation (CAS) by broadband noise, a paradigm known to activate the MOC pathway. Our results showed that the recorded VEPs were, as expected, a good measure of visual attention, but even when attention levels changed there was no corresponding change in TEOAE levels. We conclude that visual attention does not significantly affect inner ear function. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:49:02Z |
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| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:49:02Z |
| publishDate | 2017-12-01 |
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| spelling | doaj.art-2dd993d28514430d8ac962e096aea92a2023-12-03T10:31:38ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592017-12-015e419910.7717/peerj.4199Heightened visual attention does not affect inner ear function as measured by otoacoustic emissionsW. Wiktor Jedrzejczak0Rafal Milner1Lukasz Olszewski2Henryk Skarzynski3Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Warsaw, PolandInstitute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Warsaw, PolandInstitute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Warsaw, PolandInstitute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Warsaw, PolandPrevious research has indicated that inner ear function might be modulated by visual attention, although the results have not been totally conclusive. Conceivably, modulation of hearing might occur due to stimulation of the cochlea via descending medial olivocochlear (MOC) neurons. The aim of the present study was to test whether increased visual attention caused corresponding changes in inner ear function, which was measured by the strength of otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) recorded from the ear canal in response to a steady train of clicks. To manipulate attention, we asked subjects to attend to, or ignore, visual stimuli delivered according to an odd-ball paradigm. The subjects were presented with two types of visual stimuli: standard and deviant (20% of all stimuli, randomly presented). During a passive part of the experiment, subjects had to just observe a pattern of squares on a computer screen. In an active condition, the subject’s task was to silently count the occasional inverted (deviant) pattern on the screen. At all times, visual evoked potentials (VEPs) were used to objectively gauge the subject’s state of attention, and OAEs in response to clicks (transiently evoked OAEs, TEOAEs) were used to gauge inner ear function. As a test of descending neural activity, TEOAE levels were evaluated with and without contralateral acoustic stimulation (CAS) by broadband noise, a paradigm known to activate the MOC pathway. Our results showed that the recorded VEPs were, as expected, a good measure of visual attention, but even when attention levels changed there was no corresponding change in TEOAE levels. We conclude that visual attention does not significantly affect inner ear function.https://peerj.com/articles/4199.pdfOtoacoustic emissionVisual evoked potentialAttentionTEOAEMedial olivocochlear complexContralateral acoustic stimulation |
| spellingShingle | W. Wiktor Jedrzejczak Rafal Milner Lukasz Olszewski Henryk Skarzynski Heightened visual attention does not affect inner ear function as measured by otoacoustic emissions PeerJ Otoacoustic emission Visual evoked potential Attention TEOAE Medial olivocochlear complex Contralateral acoustic stimulation |
| title | Heightened visual attention does not affect inner ear function as measured by otoacoustic emissions |
| title_full | Heightened visual attention does not affect inner ear function as measured by otoacoustic emissions |
| title_fullStr | Heightened visual attention does not affect inner ear function as measured by otoacoustic emissions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Heightened visual attention does not affect inner ear function as measured by otoacoustic emissions |
| title_short | Heightened visual attention does not affect inner ear function as measured by otoacoustic emissions |
| title_sort | heightened visual attention does not affect inner ear function as measured by otoacoustic emissions |
| topic | Otoacoustic emission Visual evoked potential Attention TEOAE Medial olivocochlear complex Contralateral acoustic stimulation |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/4199.pdf |
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