Correlation between the contralateral supressor effect and the auditory fatigue using transitory acoustic otoemissions

The purpose of this study is the identification of susceptible individuals to develop noise induced hearing loss. For it we use the capacity of the transitory otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE) for the identification of functional alterations at different levels from the auditory system. 67 normal hearing subjects have been studied, we have recorded TEOAE in one ear in three different conditions: in normal conditions (SIN register), simultaneously to the stimulation of the contralateral cochlea (EAC register), and after stimulation we can observe (EAI register). We compare the amplitude of the TEOAE with the SIN and EAC registers to quantity the contralateral suppresor effect, and the SIN and EAI, register to study the auditory fatigue. We can observe a reduction in the amplitude of the TEOAE obtained by acoustic stimulation of the ipsilateral ear (0.954 dB SPL), or after the ipsilateral acoustic stimulation (0.75 dB SPL), being able to see an inverse correlation between both values. The study of the TEOAE obtained in different conditions of acoustic stimulation, ipsilateral or contralateral, and the inverse correlation obtained between the magnitude of the auditory fatigue and the contralateral suppresor effect, provides arguments for the identification of individuals susceptible of developing noise induced hearing loss.