How is the cochlea activated in response to soft tissue auditory stimulation in the occluded ear?

Miriam Geal-Dor, Haim Sohmer*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Soft tissue conduction is an additional mode of auditory stimulation which can be initiated either by applying an external vibrator to skin sites not overlying skull bone such as the neck (so it is not bone conduction) or by intrinsic body vibrations resulting, for example, from the heartbeat and vocalization. The soft tissue vibrations thereby induced are conducted by the soft tissues to all parts of the body, including the walls of the external auditory canal. In order for soft tissue conduction to elicit hearing, the soft tissue vibrations which are induced must penetrate into the cochlea in order to excite the inner ear hair cells and auditory nerve fibers. This final stage can be achieved either by an osseous bone conduction mechanism, or, more likely, by the occlusion effect: the vibrations of the walls of the occluded canal induce air pressures in the canal which drive the tympanic membrane and middle ear ossicles and activate the inner ear, acting by means of a more air conduction-like mechanism. In fact, when the clinician applies his stethoscope to the body surface of his patient in order to detect heart sounds or pulmonary air flow, he is detecting soft tissue vibrations.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)335-341
Number of pages7
JournalAudiology Research
Volume11
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

  • Air conduction
  • Bone conduction
  • External canal
  • Occlusion effect
  • Soft tissue conduction
  • Stethoscope
  • Vibrations

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