Peripheral Auditory Mechanisms

How weIl can we model experimental observations of the peripheral auditory system'? What theoretical predictions can we make that might be tested'? It was with these questions in mind that we organized the 1985 Mechanics of Hearing Workshop, to bring together auditory researchers to compare models with experimental observations. Tbe workshop forum was inspired by the very successful 1983 Mechanics of Hearing Workshop in Delft [1]. Boston University was chosen as the site of our meeting because of the Boston area's role as a center for hearing research in this country. We made a special effort at this meeting to attract students from around the world, because without students this field will not progress. Financial support for the workshop was provided in part by grant BNS- 8412878 from the National Science Foundation. Modeling is a traditional strategy in science and plays an important role in the scientific method. Models are the bridge between theory and experiment. Tbey test the assumptions made in experimental designs. They are built on experimental results, and they may be used to test hypotheses and predict experimental results. Tbe latter is the scientific method at its best. Cochlear function is very complicated. For this reason, models play animportant role. One goal of modeling is to gain understanding, but the necessary mathematical tools are often formidably complex. An ex am pie of this is found in cochlear macromechanics.

Outer and Middle Ear Mechanics.- The effectiveness of external and middle ears in coupling acoustic power into the cochlea.- Spatial distribution of sound pressure in the ear canal.- The impulse response vibration of the human ear drum.- Formulation and analysis of a dynamic fiber composite continuum model of the tympanic membrane.- How do contractions of the stapedius muscle alter the acoustic properties of the ear?.- Measurement of eardrum acoustic impedance.- Middle ear research using a SQUID magnetometer. I. Micro- and macromechanical selection of polymer materials for artificial tympanic membranes.- Middle ear research using a SQUID magnetometer. II. Transfer characteristics of human middle ears.- Cochlear Macromechanics.- Cochlear macromechanics — a review.- Transients and speech processing in a three-dimensional model of the human cochlea.- The mechanics of the basilar membrane and middle ear in the pigeon.- On the mechanics of the horseshoe bat cochlea.- Resonance and reflection in the cochlea: the case of the CF-FM bat, Rhinolophus Ferrumequinum.- The complete solution of the basilar membrane condition in two dimensional models of the cochlea.- Longitudinal stiffness coupling in a 1-dimensional model of the peripheral ear.- Mössbauer measurements of the mechanical response to single-tone and two-tone stimuli at the base of the chinchilla cochlea.- Parameter sensitivity in a mathematical model of basilar membrane mechanics.- Cochlear Micromechanics.- Micromechanics of the cochlear partition.- On the role of fluid inertia and viscosity in stereociliary tuft motion: analysis of isolated bodies of regular geometry.- Role of passive mechanical properties of outer hair cells in determination of cochlear mechanics.- Thresholds of auditory sensitivity and auditory fatigue: relation with cochlear mechanics.- Analysis of streaming flow induced in the tectorial gap.- Active Filtering in the Cochlea.- Active filtering by hair cells.- Determination of the cochlear power flux from basilar membrane vibration data.- An isolated sound emitter in the cochlea: notes on modelling.- Stability of active cochlear models: need for a second tuned structure?.- Changes in spontaneous and evoked otoacoustic emissions and corresponding psychoacoustic threshold microstructures induced by aspirin consumption.- Statistical properties of a strong spontaneous oto-acoustic emission.- The influence of temperature on frequency-tuning mechanisms.- Nonlinear and/or Active Processes.- An overview of nonlinear and active cochlear models.- Evaluating traveling wave characteristics in man by an active nonlinear cochlea preprocessing model.- Modeling intracochlear and ear canal distortion product (2f1-f2).- Interactions among multiple spontaneous otoacoustic emissions.- Basilar membrane motion in guinea pig cochlea exhibits frequency-dependent DC offset.- Linear and nonlinear effects in a physical model of the cochlea.- Modelling the cochlear partition with coupled Van der Pol oscillators.- New effects of cochlear nonlinearity in temporal patterns of auditory nerve fiber responses to harmonic complexes.- Wideband analysis of otoacoustic intermodulation.- Characterization of cubic intermodulation distortion products in the cat external auditory meatus.- Acoustic overstimulation reduces 2f1-f2 cochlear emissions at all levels in the cat.- Harmonic acoustic emissions in the earcanal generated by single tones: experiments and a model.- Steady-state response determination for models of the basilar membrane.- Transduction in the Cochlea.- Transduction in cochlear hair cells.- Furosemide affects ear-canal emissions produced by the injection of AC currents into scala media.- Outer hair cell motility: a possible electro-kinetic mechanism.- Visualization of sensory hair cells in an in vivo preparation.- A model for transduction in hair cells involving strain-activated conductance.- Author index.- Permuted title index.