The experiments presented in this paper explore the hypothesis that cochlear gain is reduced, in a frequency-specific manner, over the course of a sound ͑called a "precursor"͒ which was designed to activate the medial olivo-cochlear reflex ͑MOCR͒. Psychophysical tuning curves ͑PTCs͒ and off-frequency growth of masking ͑GOM͒ functions were measured with two precursors. The on-frequency precursor condition, which was hypothesized to activate the MOCR at the signal frequency, produced a PTC with a lower best frequency in all subjects consistent with less gain. This same condition produced a GOM function with less gain and an elevated compression breakpoint. The data were analyzed with two models. The gain-reduction model, which assumed a change in the basilar membrane input-output function, was superior at predicting the data relative to a model of additivity of masking.

Musicianship confers enhancements to hearing at nearly all levels of the auditory system from periphery to percept. Musicians' superior psychophysical abilities are particularly evident in spectral discrimination and noise-degraded listening tasks, achieving higher perceptual sensitivity than their nonmusician peers. Greater spectral acuity implies that musicianship may increase auditory filter selectivity. This hypothesis was directly tested by measuring both forward- and simultaneous-masked psychophysical tuning curves. Sharper filter tuning (i.e., higher Q10) was observed in musicians compared to nonmusicians. Findings suggest musicians' pervasive listening benefits may be facilitated, in part, by superior spectral processing/decomposition as early as the auditory periphery.

Frequency selectivity was evaluated under two conditions designed to assess the influence of a "precursor" stimulus on auditory filter bandwidths. The standard condition consisted of a short masker, immediately followed by a short signal. The precursor condition was identical except a 100-ms sinusoid at the signal frequency (i.e., the precursor) was presented before the masker. The standard and precursor conditions were compared for measurements of psychophysical tuning curves (PTCs), and notched noise tuning characteristics. Estimates of frequency selectivity were significantly broader in the precursor condition. In the second experiment, PTCs in the standard and precursor conditions were simulated to evaluate the influence of the precursor on PTC bandwidth. The model was designed to account for the influence of additivity of masking between the masker and precursor. Model simulations were able to qualitatively account for the perceptual data when outer hair cell gain of the model was reduced in the precursor condition. These findings suggest that the precursor may have reduced cochlear gain, in addition to producing additivity of masking. This reduction in gain may be mediated by the medial olivocochlear reflex.

Masked detection threshold for a short tone in noise improves as the tone's onset is delayed from the masker's onset. This improvement, known as "overshoot," is maximal at mid-masker levels and is reduced by temporary and permanent cochlear hearing loss. Computational modeling was used in the present study to evaluate proposed physiological mechanisms of overshoot, including classic firing rate adaptation and medial olivocochlear (MOC) feedback, for both normal hearing and cochlear hearing loss conditions. These theories were tested using an established model of the auditory periphery and signal detection theory techniques. The influence of several analysis variables on predicted tone-pip detection in broadband noise was evaluated, including: auditory nerve fiber spontaneousrate (SR) pooling, range of characteristic frequencies, number of synapses per characteristic frequency, analysis window duration, and detection rule. The results revealed that overshoot similar to perceptual data in terms of both magnitude and level dependence could be predicted when the effects of MOC efferent feedback were included in the auditory nerve model. Conversely, simulations without MOC feedback effects never produced overshoot despite the model's ability to account for classic firing rate adaptation and dynamic range adaptation in auditory nerve responses. Cochlear hearing loss was predicted to reduce the size of overshoot only for model versions that included the effects of MOC efferent feedback. These findings suggest that overshoot in normal and hearing-impaired listeners is mediated by some form of dynamic range adaptation other than what is observed in the auditory nerve of anesthetized animals. Mechanisms for this adaptation may occur at several levels along the auditory pathway. Among these mechanisms, the MOC reflex may play a leading role.

The medial olivocochlear reflex (MOCR) has been hypothesized to provide benefit for listening in noise. Strong physiological support for an anti-masking role for the MOCR has come from the observation that auditory nerve (AN) fibers exhibit reduced firing to sustained noise and increased sensitivity to tones when the MOCR is elicited. The present study extended a well-established computational model for normal-hearing and hearing-impaired AN responses to demonstrate that these anti-masking effects can be accounted for by reducing outer hair cell (OHC) gain, which is a primary effect of the MOCR. Tone responses in noise were examined systematically as a function of tone level, noise level, and OHC gain. Signal detection theory was used to predict detection and discrimination for different spontaneous rate fiber groups. Decreasing OHC gain decreased the sustained noise response and increased maximum discharge rate to the tone, thus modeling the ability of the MOCR to decompress AN fiber rate-level functions. Comparing the present modeling results with previous data from AN fibers in decerebrate cats suggests that the ipsilateral masking noise used in the physiological study may have elicited up to 20 dB of OHC gain reduction in addition to that inferred from the contralateral noise effects. Reducing OHC gain in the model also extended the dynamic range for discrimination over a wide range of background noise levels. For each masker level, an optimal OHC gain reduction was predicted (i.e., where maximum discrimination was achieved without increased detection threshold). These optimal gain reductions increased with masker level and were physiologically realistic. Thus, reducing OHC gain can improve tone-in-noise discrimination even though it may produce a "hearing loss" in quiet. Combining MOCR effects with the sensorineural hearing loss effects already captured by this computational AN model will be beneficial for exploring the implications of their interaction for the difficulties hearing-impaired listeners have in noisy situations.

Amplitude modulation (AM) detection was measured with a short (50 ms), high-frequency carrier as a function of carrier level (Experiment I) and modulation frequency (Experiment II) for conditions with or without a notched-noise precursor. A longer carrier (500 ms) was also included in Experiment I. When the carrier was preceded by silence (no precursor condition) AM detection thresholds worsened for moderate-level carriers compared to lower-or higher-level carriers, resulting in a "mid-level hump." AM detection thresholds with a precursor were better than those without a precursor, primarily for moderate-to-high level carriers, thus eliminating the mid-level hump in AM detection. When the carrier was 500 ms, AM thresholds improved by a constant (across all levels) relative to AM thresholds with a precursor, consistent with the longer carrier providing more "looks" to detect the AM signal. Experiment II revealed that improved AM detection with compared to without a precursor is limited to low-modulation frequencies (<60 Hz). These results are consistent with (1) a reduction in cochlear gain over the course of the precursor perhaps via the medial olivocochlear reflex or (2) a form of perceptual enhancement which may be mediated by adaptation of inhibition.

The physiology of the medial olivocochlear reflex suggests that a sufficiently long stimulus (>100 ms) may reduce cochlear gain and result in broadened frequency selectivity. The current study attempted to avoid gain reduction by using short maskers (20 ms) to measure psychophysical tuning curves (PTCs) and notched-noise tuning characteristics, with a 4-kHz signal. The influence of off-frequency listening on PTCs was evaluated using two types of background noise. Iso-level curves were derived using an estimate of the cochlear input/output (I/O) function, which was obtained using an off-frequency masker as a linear reference. The influence of masker duration on PTCs was assessed using a model that assumed long maskers (>20 ms) evoked gain reduction. The results suggested that the off-frequency masker was a valid linear reference when deriving I/O functions and that off-frequency listening may have occurred in auditory filters apical to the signal place. The iso-level curves from this growth-of-masking study were consistent with those from a temporal-masking-curve study by Eustaquio-Martin and Lopez-Poveda [J. Assoc. Res. Otolaryngol. 12, 281-299. (2011)], suggesting that either approach may be used to derive iso-level curves. Finally, model simulations suggested that masker duration may not influence estimates of frequency selectivity.

Existing auditory system models focus on the ascending path from the cochlea to the midbrain and auditory cortex. However, there exist several feedback paths connecting different auditory pathway stages from the auditory cortex to the cochlea, referred to as the efferent system. We have implemented a dynamic, closed-loop gain-control system into an existing auditory model to simulate parts of the efferent system. Inputs to this control system are auditory nerve (AN) and midbrain spike rates that encode stimulus level and AN fluctuation patterns, respectively. Data from a previous physiological study shows that midbrain cells with band-enhanced modulation transfer functions have rates that increase over time in response to amplitude-modulated stimuli. This trend does not occur in a model without efferent pathways. We adjusted parameters of the model with efferent control paths so that it could simulate the increasing midbrain rate with the same time constant (~140ms) as physiological data.