Active amplifiers within the cochlea generate, as a by-product of their function, distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) in response to specific two-tone stimuli. Focus has been on invoking emissions in a mid-frequency range from similar to 0.5 to 4 kHz. The present study investigates stimulus parameters of the DPOAE at 2f(1) - f(2) frequencies below 0.5 kHz. Eighteen out of 21 young human adults screened had audiometrically normal hearing for inclusion in the experiment. DPOAEs were measured with pure-tone stimuli in four configurations: f(2) fixed around 2.13 kHz, f(2) fixed around 0.53 kHz, 2f(1) - f(2) fixed at 1.23 kHz and 0.25 kHz. Eight stimulus ratios, f(2)/f(1), and three stimulus sound pressure levels, L-1/L-2, were measured in each configuration. Trends in ratio-magnitude responses for the mid-frequency DPOAE agree with those reported in previous literature. DPOAEs are not limited to distortion frequencies >0.5 kHz, but the stimulus ratio invoking the largest DPOAE in the mid-frequency range does not do so in the low-frequency range. Guiding the ratio according to the equivalent rectangular bandwidth of auditory filters maintains the DPOAE level. (C) 2015 Acoustical Society of America.
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