The behavior of the acoustic distortion product, 2fl from the

human ear and its relation to auditory sensitivity

SallyA. Gaskilland Ann M. Brown
LaboratoryofExperimentalPsychology,
SchoolofBiologicalSciences,
University
ofSussex,Falmer,
Brighton,E.SussexBN1 9QG, UnitedKingdom

(Received4 May 1989;acceptedfor publication23 March 1990)

The acousticintermodulationdistortionproduct 2f 1 --f2 (ADP) wasmeasuredin human
subjectsto investigate( 1) the dependenceof ADP levelon stimulusparametersand (2) the
relationshipbetweenADP leveland auditorysensitivity.The frequencyratio (f2/fl), at
which ADP levelis maximal,variesonly slightlyacrossfrequencyand subjects.The average
optimalratio is 1.225.Beyondthe maximum,the ADP leveldeclineswith increasingf2/fl
ratio, at ratesof up to 250 dB/oct. As the level of one stimulusis increasedrelative to the
other, the ADP grows,saturates,and in most casesshowsa bendover.Maximum distortion is
generatedwhenL 1 exceedsL 2. Growth rate and saturationpoint are dependenton which
stimulusis incrementedand on the levelof the stationarystimulus.With optimal stimulus
parameters(levelsbelow 60 dB SPL; L 1 > L 2 by 15 dB;f2/fl = 1.225), ADP levelsare
commonly30 dB belowL 2. Patternsof ADP level acrossfrequencyvary betweensubjects,but
are repeatablewithin eachsubject.As the frequencyof oneor both of the stimuliis varied,
changesin ADP level exhibita broadlyfeaturedpatternwith a fine structuresuperimposed
uponit. This finestructurewascomparedwith the featuresin the stimulusfrequencyemission
spectrumin one subject.With appropriatestimulusparameters,half of our subjectsshowa
statisticallysignificantcorrelationacrossfrequency,betweenADP level and auditory
sensitivityat the corresponding f 1 frequency.Our resultssuggestthat, with low levelsof
stimulation,ADP measurements couldform the basisof an objectivemeasureof cochlear
function in human subjects.
PACS numbers:43.64.Jb,43.64.Kc, 43.64.Yp, 43.66.Ki

INTRODUCTION mechanismgeneratingthe distortion (Brown and Kemp,

Two-tone stimulationof the ear resultsin the generation
of intermodulationdistortionproducts.The acousticdistor-
tion product (ADP), 2fl --f2, canbe measuredin the ear
canal of animals and humans. Acoustic distortion from ani-
mal earshasbeenextensivelystudied(Andersonand Kemp,
1979;Zurek et al., 1982; Rosowskiet al., 1984;Horner et al.,
1985;Brown, 1987;Lonsbury-Martin et al., 1987;Martin et
al., 1988) and severalinvestigationshave beenmade of the
behavior of human acoustic distortion as a function of stimu-
lus frequencyand level (Kemp, 1979a;Wilson, 1980;Wit et
al., 1981;Kemp and Brown, 1983;Furst et al., 1988;Harris
et al., 1989). However, little is known about the response
with low-level stimuli or the responseacrossthe auditory
frequencyrangeand its relation to sensitivity.
Animal studieshave not only describedADP behavior,
but have also addressedthe questionsof ADP origin and
significance.Physiologicalstudieshaveleft little doubt that
2f 1 -f2 is generatedat the frequencyregionof the stimuli
on the basilar membrane;it then propagatesapically and
peaksat itsown characteristicplace( Kim et al., 1980). Sup-
pressiontuning contoursindicate that the major contribu-
tion to acoustic distortion measured in the ear canal is from
the primary frequencyregion. These suppressionstudies
also illustratea high degreeof frequencyspecificityin the
1984; Martin et al., 1987).
It has been establishedthat acousticdistortion genera-
ted by low-levelstimuli is physiologicallyvulnerableto the
sameformsof interferencethat reduceor destroyouter hair
cell (OHC) function (Kim et al., 1980;Kim, 1980;Zurek et
al., 1982;Lonsbury-Martin et al., 1987;Brown et al., 1989).
Histologicalexaminationfollowingsuchexperimentshasre-
vealedOHC damagecorresponding to reducedADP levels,
thusverifyingthe involvementof OHCs in the generationof
acousticdistortion (Zurek et al., 1982; Brown et al., 1989).
It is well known that OHCs are essential for the acute sensi-
tivity and frequencyselectivityillustratedby the "tips" of
neural tuning curves (Evans, 1975; Liberman and Dodds,
1984). The tuning propertiesof the basilar membraneare
alsodependentupon the "health" of OHCs (Khanna and
Leonard, 1986).
Models of cochlear mechanics have linked OHC func-
tion and distortion generationin the following way: It has
beenproposedthat thereexistsa "cochlearamplifier" (CA)
involvingactivemechanicalfeedbackfrom the OHCs to the
basilarmembrane(BM). This feedbackimproveslow-level
sensitivityand sharpnessof tuning by enhancingthe vibra-
tion of a narrow region of the BM (Gold, 1948; Zwicker,
1979; Davis, 1983; Neely and Kim, 1983; Strube, 1985;
Mountain, 1986). The nonlinearity of this mechanism is

821 J. Acoust.Soc.Am.88 (2), August1990 0001-4966/90/080821-19500.80 @ 1990 AcousticalSocietyof America 821

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 suchthat with two-.tonestimulation,usinglow-to-moderate A. Measuring acoustic distortion
soundlevels,intermodulationdistortionisgeneratedasa by-
productof the amplificationprocess(Davis, 1983;Strube, The primary tones0 e1 lower,f2 higherin frequency)
1985;Zwicker, 1986). This impliesthat distortionmeasure- weresynthesized by programmable,PhilipsPM 5193 func-
mentscould be usedto study activeprocesses in cochlear tiongenerators.The two continuoustoneswerefedto the ear
mechanicsand may bear somerelation to auditory sensitiv- canalvia the two probeloudspeakers. To measurethe sound
ity. Someanimal studiesdo, indeed,suggestthat a relation- field in the ear canal during the two-tone stimulation,the
shipexistsbetweenacousticdistortionandauditorysensitiv- probemicrophoneresponse wasamplifiedandfedto a Hew-
ity. Zurek et al. (1982) measuredADP levelsandbehavioral lett-Packard spectrum analyzer (3561A). Here, the re-
thresholds in the chinchilla, both before and after noise ex- sponsewas sampled,digitized, and fast Fourier trans-
posure.A significantcorrelationwasfoundbetweenthresh- formed.The spectrumof the responsewasdisplayedon the
old shifts and reduction in ADP level. Brown (1987) and analyzer.
Lonsbury-Martinet al. (1987) alsoshowedthat the levelof The peakenergyof the response wasmeasuredwithin a
the ADP bearssomerelationto subjectsensitivityin normal selectedbandwidth. For experimentsin which a fixed fre-
rodentand rabbit ears,respectively. quencyseparationratio (f2/f 1) wasmaintained,thisanaly-
Resultsof theseandotherstudieshaveledto thepropos- sisbandwidthwas calculatedas a proportionof thef 1 fre-
althattheacoustic distortion product 2f 1-- f,2couldbeused quency(f 1/20), resultingin a narroweranalysisbandwidth
to assesscochlearfunction (Zurek et al., 1982; Brown and at the lower frequenciesto improvenoiserejection.For ex-
Kemp, 1984;Horner et al., 1985;Brown, 1987; Lonsbury- perimentswhich involvedvaryingthe frequencyseparation
Martin et al., 1987) and thusasan objective,indirecttestof ratio, a fixednarrow bandwidthwasusedto ensurethat only-
auditorysensitivity.The clinicalpotentialof thesemeasure- one of the componentsfell within the analysisbandwidth.
ments makes it worthwhile to explore the relationship The frequencyresolutionof each analysisbandwidth(the
betweenacousticdistortion and auditory sensitivityin hu- "effectivebandwidth") wascalculatedby dividingthe width
man subjects. of the analysisbandwidthby the numberof analyzerfilters
The followingexperiments(i) make a detailedinvesti- (400); e.g.,an analysisbandwidthof 100Hz gavean "effec-
gationof the behaviorof humanADP levelasstimuluspa- tive bandwidth" of 0.25 Hz. The frequencyof the distortion
rametersare manipulated,(ii) explorethe "fine structure" productwascalculatedfrom the frequencies of the primar-
of this responseacrossfrequencyand its relationto the abi- ies. Sincethe primarieswere synthesized,this calculation
lity of the stimulusand distortionfrequencyregionsto re- gavea precisevaluefor the distortionfrequency.If the fre-
emit sound,and (iii) explorethe relationshipbetweenthe quencyof the measuredpeak deviatedfrom the calculated
ADP level and subjectiveauditory thresholdsacrossfre- distortion frequency by more than the "effective band-
quency. width," then it was assumedto be noise rather than a true
distortion reading. Where distortion level fell below the
I. METHOD AND EQUIPMENT
noisefloor, the data points are identifiedby the symbol^
A total of 34 human subjectswere usedin this study. beneaththe datum point. Sincethis wasa "peak" noiseread-
They were of both sexes( 19 female, 15 male) and rangedin ing,it wasalwayssubstantiallyhigherthanthe averagenoise
agefrom 15-50 yearsold. At the time of testing,noneof the floor. The level of backgroundnoisevariedwith frequency,
subjectsconsideredthat they had any hearing problems, analysisbandwidth, and subject.
nonehad a historyof repeatednoiseexposure,but two had a Following each distortion reading,the magnitudesof
historyof childhoodmiddle ear infections.Pure-toneaudio- the stimuli were alsomeasured.All magnitudereadingsare
metry wascarriedout on 30 subjectsand showedthat 9 sub- in dB SPL (dB re:20/zPa). Stimulussetting,datacollection,
jectshad thresholdsmore than 20 dB abovenormal at oneor and storage were controlled by a BBC microcomputer
more frequencies(3 females, AFB, TP, and MD, and 5 throughan IEEE interface.The systemwastestedfor arte-
males, RBG, PD, JC, CG, MJG, and LA). Becauseof the factsacrossthe frequencyrangef 1 = 500-8000 Hz. Distor-
possiblerisksto the subjects,tympanometricmeasurements tion was undetectablein a 1-cc cavity with both tones at
were not made,exceptin the earsof the two authors.Both 73dB SPL. Subjectswere thereforenot testedwith stimuli
provedto havenormal middle ear function. above70 dB SPL. Sincelow-frequencyreadingswere par-
Each subjectwas seatedin a sound-treatedbooth and a ticularlytime consuming(due to the highnoiselevelandthe
speciallydesigned,Perspex,meatal probe was fitted into narrowbandwidthsemployedfor measurements),mostsub-
theirearcanal.Rubbereartipswereusedto improvetheseal jectswere testedacrossthe frequencyrangef 1 = 1-8 kHz
in the ear. The probecontainedthreeKnowlestransducers: (seeTable I for detailsof the frequencyrangeinvestigated).
two 1712loudspeakers andan 1843microphone.The micro- Usingthisprocedure,detailedobservations weremadeof the
phoneresponse wasfully calibratedin 25-Hz stepsacrossthe level of human acousticdistortionas the frequencyand/or
frequencyrange200 Hz-10 kHz. The stimuluslevelswere level of one or both of the stimuli were varied.
measuredby the probe microphoneand correctedduring All 34 subjectswere screenedfor acousticdistortion
each experimentalsessionto compensatefor variations acrossthef 1frequencyrangeof 500 Hz (or 1kHz) to 8 kHz
acrossfrequencyin the outputof the Knowlesloudspeakers at 1/3 octave intervals to give a distortion "audiogram"
andvariationsacrossfrequencyof theacousticpropertiesof (Schmiedt,1986), usinga stimulusfrequencyseparationra-
individual ears. tio (f2/fl) of between1.1 and 1.3, and with stimuluslevels

822 J. Acoust.Soc. Am., Vol. 88, No. 2, August1990 S.A. Gaskilland A.M. Brown:Acousticdistortionproducts 822

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 TABLE I. Thefl,f2, and2fl --f2 frequenciesin Hz, at 1/3-octintervals Irregularitieswereclearlyvisiblein the lowerlevelresponse
overthefrequencyrangeinvestigated;f2/f
1wascommonly 1.225.Frequen-
ciescorrespondingto frequency
ratiosof 1.075and 1.375indicatetheex-
curve.The response curveswerenormalizedby multiplying
tremesof therangeinvestigated.
fl frequenciesmarkedwith an asterisk the latter curve by 10. The spectrumof this responsewas
wereusedonly occasionally. dividedby the spectrumof the responseto the higher level
stimulus.This procedurewas repeatedfour times to enable
f2/fl 1.075 1.225 1.375 differentiationof the repeatablecochlear-generated irregu-
fl f2 DP f2 DP , f2 DP
laritiesfrom the random backgroundnoisewhich had been
*500 538 462 612 388 688 312 exaggeratedin the low-level responseby normalization
*630 677 583 772 488 866 394 (after Furst et al., 1988).
*794 853 734 972 615 1091 496
1000 1075 925 1225 775 1375 625
1260 1354 1165 1543 976 1732 787
D. The acoustic properties of the ear probes
1587 1706 1468 1944 1230 2183 992
2000 2150 1850 2450 1550 2750 1250 The followingprocedurewasusedto investigate the in-
2520. 2709 2331 3087 1953 3465 1575 fluenceof the acousticpropertiesof the ear probe on the
3175 3413 2937 3889 2460 4365 1984
4000 4300 3700 4900 3100 5500 2500
recordedresponse. A Knowlesloudspeaker andmicrophone
5040 5418 4662 6174 3906 6930 3150 were fixed at one end of a 1-cccavity with the probe to be
6350 6826 5873 7778 4921 8731 3968 tested fitted into the other end. A small amount of wire wool
8000 8600 7400 9800 6200 11000 5000
was placedinsidethe cavity to minimize standingwaves.
The four probesusedfor distortionmeasurements variedin
the numberof transducersthey housedandthe impedanceof
the sounddelivery and receptiontubes.
Eachprobewasinsertedin turn into the samepositionin
of between 40 and 65 dB SPL. In addition to this, the effect of the cavity and the sound-pressurelevel in the cavity was
stimulusleveland frequencyseparationwasstudiedin detail recordedby the cavity microphone.The cavity loudspeaker
in 24 of the 34 subjects.The stimulusfrequenciesfor these delivered a tone swept acrossthe frequency range 100-
investigationswere thoseat which high levelsof distortion 10 000 Hz. This was repeatedwith a probewith blanked-off
had previouslybeendetectedin the distortion"audiogram." inlet and outlet tubes (the referenceprobe) usedin placeof
The resultsshownare from the subject'sright ear unlessthe an experimentalprobe.
letter L follows their initials. The sound-pressurelevel acrossfrequency measured
with eachtest probe in placewas comparedwith that mea-
B. The measurement of human auditory sensitivity sured with the referenceprobe in place. The difference
With essentiallythe sameequipment,subjectivethresh- betweenthe test responseand the referenceresponsegavea
oldswere measuredin 30 subjectsusingan automaticcom- relativemeasureof the acousticimpedanceof the probe as-
puter-controlled adaptive procedure (based on Levitt, semblyand thus indicatedthe influencethat eachtest probe
1970). The stimuli were tone pulses(500 ms in duration had on the recordedresponse.For frequencies below4 kHz,
with 5-msriseand fall time), which weredeliveredthrough the responses measuredwith each of the test probesin the
oneof the probeloudspeakers. The lengthof eachpresenta- cavityshowedno significantdifferencefrom thosemeasured
tion was dependenton subjectresponsetime with a maxi- with the referenceprobe in the cavity. Above 4 kHz the
mum of 5 s. The subjectwas required to pressa response acousticimpedancedifferedslightlybetweenall four probes.
buttonwhenthe tonepipswereaudible.The soundlevelwas
II. RESULTS
decreasedwhen the subjectmade two consecutivecorrect
responses,but increasedwhen a singleincorrect response A. Frequency separation
wasmade.The level wasalteredin stepsof 5 to 2 to 1 dB as The levelof2f 1 -- f2 wasmeasuredasa functionof stim-
thresholdwasapproached.
Therewereeight"turnarounds" ulusfrequencyseparation(ratio = f2/f 1) in 11subjects( 17
before the threshold sound level was measured in dB SPL
ears). In eachexperimentalsequence, with a constantd
e1 fre-
usingthe probe microphone.This procedurewas repeated quencyand a variablef2, the ratio wasincreasedfrom 1.075
for each 1/3-oct interval from 500 Hz (or 1 kHz) to 8 kHz. to 1.325 or 1.375 in increments of 0.025 or 0.05. This was
repeatedat differentd
e1frequenciesand at differentequaland
C. The measurement of stimulus-frequency-evoked relativestimuluslevels.In five of the subjects(ten ears), the
emissions
effectof frequencyseparationwas measuredat eight differ-
A 100-scontinuousfrequencysweepfrom 500 to 5500 entfl frequencies,1/3 oct apart from 1 kHz, at eachof four
Hz wasgeneratedby a Hewlett-Packard functiongenerator different stimulus levels (L 1 = L 2 at 50, 55, 60, and 65 dB
(3314A) and deliveredto the ear usingthe probedescribed SPL). In the remainingsix subjects(sevenears), the effect
above.Stimulusfrequencyemissionswere measuredin one of frequencyseparationwas measuredat a selectionof the
subjectusingan averagingfunction on the signalanalyzer eightfrequencieswith eitherequalor unequalstimuluslevels
which measuredthe peak energyfor eachtime sampleand (seelegend).
displayedthisasa spectrum.The acousticresponseof the ear Figure 1 showsexamplesof how the pattern of the re-
was measuredto two successivesweeps,the first at 40 dB sponsewith increasingfrequencyseparationis affectedbyf 1
SPL ( q- or -- 6 dB), the second 20 dB lower in level. frequency (for a constantlevel of stimulation). Figure 2

823 J. Acoust.Soc. Am., Vol. 88, No. 2, August1990 S.A. Gaskilland A.M. Brown:Acousticdistortionproducts 823

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 20 20

J J

rolo rolo

•-0 •-o

FIG. 1. The effectof stimulusfrequency

> > separationon ADP level.ADP levelshown
j -10 as a functionof frequencyseparationfrom
four subjects. fl wasfixed;f2 wasvariedto
increasefrequencyratio from 1.075to 1.325
for subjectsin (a)-(c) and to 1.375for sub-
-20, -20
ject in (d), in stepsof 0.025 for subjectsin
o f.i f.2 f.• f.4 ] f.z f.2 f-3 f.4 (a)-(c) and in stepsof 0.05 for subjectin
?2/?1 ?requency ratio 72/71 ?requen?y rotio (d). In eachof the four subjectsthiswasre-
peated at several differentfl frequencies
2O 2o (individual curves). (a) subject AC(L),
L 1 = L 2 = 55 dB SPL; (b) subjectFJN,
L 1 = 55 and L 2 = 40 dB SPL; (c) subject
CW (L), L 1 = L 2 = 60 dB SPL; (d) sub-
J
ject SAG, L 1 = 55andL 2 = 40dBSPL.fl
rolo rolo
frequency code: ...... = 1000 Hz; ---
= 1259 Hz; ...... 1587 Hz; .... 2000
Hz;--=2519Hz; ß ß .=3174Hz;--
= 4000 Hz; .... 5039 Hz.
•-o •-o

j -10 j -10

-2O
,0 •.• f.2 f.• f.4 1"1 1"2 1"3 1"4 1"5
?2/?1 ?requency ratio 72/71 ?requenc y rotio

showsexamplesof how the pattern of the responsewith in-
creasingfrequencyseparationis affectedby stimuluslevel
(for a constantf l frequency).Each graph in Figs. 1 and 2
showsthe resultsfrom an individualsubject.The two figures
illustrate that while the absolute ADP level varies with stim-
ulus frequency,stimuluslevel, and subject,the pattern of
ADP levelincreaseto a maximum followedby decline,seen
with increasingstimulusfrequencyseparation,is preserved.
In three of the subjectsshownin Fig. 2 [ (a), (c), and (d) ]
maximumlevelsof distortionweregeneratedby the highest
stimuluslevelsused.However,therewereexceptions to this
asshownin Fig. 2(b) wherethe reverseis true. This reflects
marked saturationof the responseat low stimuluslevelsin
this subject.
The "optimal ratio" generatingthe maximallevelof dis-
tortion varies only slightly with frequency,stimuluslevel
'(up to 65 dB SPL), and subject.A reliable estimateof the
optimal ratio couldbe made in 11 ears,givinga meanopti-
mal ratio of 1.225 (65 trials, s.d. = 0.03).
While the increase and decline were common to all sub-
jects, the shapeof the curve at the interveningfrequency
separations varied.Somecurvesdescribeda comparatively
smoothgrowth to a maximum followedby decline,while in
others the curve coveringmidrange ratios showeda fine
structureof peaksand troughs.These featureswere more
commonwhenf 1 frequencies werebelow4 kHz. To increase
the detail of the responsecurve, the frequencyseparation
ratio was incrementedin stepsof 0.01 (1% off l) in six
subjects.This was repeatedat severaldifferentf l frequen-
cies,and in each casestimulus levels ofL 1 = 55 and L 2 = 40
dB SPL were used (the choice of stimulus level was based on
resultsthat will be describedin Sec. IIB). Figure 3 shows
examplesof the fine structureseenwith small changesin
frequencyseparationratio, from a relativelysmoothcurveas
in (a) to a highly structuredcurve as in (d). The actual
ADP level and the pattern of ADP level with increasing
frequencyseparationremainsremarkably stablewith time.
Individualcurvesin (c) and ( d ) showthesequence repeated
after varioustime periodsof up to 15 monthshad elapsed
(seecaptionfor details).
In somesubjects,wherea minimumof threedatapoints
fell on a straight-linesegment,it was possibleto calculate
individualratesof declinein ADP levelwith increasingfre-
quencyseparation.Becauseof the intersubjectvariation in

824 J. Acoust.Soc. Am., Vol. 88, No. 2, August1990 S.A. Gaskilland A.M. Brown:Acousticdistortionproducts 824

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 2O 2O

rolo B o

•-0

• -10 • -10 FIG. 2. The effect of stimulus level on the

patternsof ADP levelseenwith increasing
stimulusfrequencyseparation.ADP level
shownasa functionof frequencyseparation.
Eachgraphshowsthe resultsfrom a single
-•0
1.1 1.;:' f.a f.4 1"5 -20. 1"5 ear,at a singlefl frequency,
0 at severalstim-
F2/œ1 Fcequency rotio F2/F1 Frequency rat io uluslevels.f1wasconstant;f2wasvariedto
increasethe frequencyratio from 1.075 to
2O 2O 1.325in stepsof 0.025.This wasrepeatedat
several different stimulus levels (individual
(d)I curves). Results from three subjects are
shown. In each caseL 1 = L 2. (a) subject
_o
CW(L),fl = 4000Hz; (b) subjectAC(L),
rolo u•1O
fl = 4000 Hz;(c) subjectKT, fl = 4000
Hz; (d) subjectKT, fl -- 3174 Hz. Stimu-
lus level code: solid line, L = 55 dB SPL;
dotted line, L- 60 dB SPL; and dashed
•-0 •-o line, L = 65 dB SPL [in (b), large dash,
L = 50 dB SPL].
o o

_o _o -10

.0 1-5 -20, .o, 1'1 1'.2 1"3 1.4 1'.5

Frequency rat • o F2/F 1 Frequency m•t i o

ADP level acrossfrequency,it was not possibleto make
slopemeasurements acrossthe samefrequencyrangein ev-
ery subject.
There was considerableintersubjectvariability in de-
cline rates. Table II shows how the rate of decline with in-
creasingfrequencyratio is affectedby stimulusfrequency.
Despitethe gapsin the data (due to unmeasureable slopes),
thereisevidenceof a steeperdeclinewith increasingfrequen-
cy. Of the 11 examplesin Table II, 8 showthistrend. Com-
paringparts (a) and (b), it is clearthat stimuluslevelsof
L 1 = 55 and L 2- 40 dB SPL elicit steeperdecline rates
than L 1 = L 2 -- 55 dB SPL, even if the variation with fre-
quencyis bornein mind. Table III showshow the rate of
declinewith increasingfrequencyratio is affectedby stimu-
luslevel.To excludeanyeffectof frequency,Table III shows
slopesmeasuredwithf 1 = 4 kHz only.While no cleartrend
wasapparentwith increasingstimuluslevel,in four of the
five subjectsshownin Table III the most gradualrate of
declinewasseenat the highestlevel of stimulation(65 dB
SPL).
B. Growth of ADP as a function of stimulus level
1. Incrementing the levels of both stimuli
In eightsubjects(nine ears), the ADP levelwasmea-
suredasequallevelstimuliwerecovaried.The two stimuli
wereincrementedfrom 30 to 70 dB SPL in stepsof 3 or 5 dB.
This wasrepeatedat severaldifferentfrequencycombina-
tions,with a constantfrequencyseparationratio of 1.225.
Resultsfrom two subjectsare shownin Fig. 4. The ADP
growswith a slopejust below1 (the meanof 11 slopeswas
0.91, s.d.- 0.09). In approximately
half of the trials,when
the stimuluslevelsreach 60-65 dB SPL, the ADP level satuo
rates.
2. Incrementing the level of one stimulus relative to the
other
Usingfivesubjects,thelevelof f 1 (L 1) wasincrement-
ed in 5-dBstepsfrom 40 to 65 dB SPL, relativeto a station-
ary levelœ2(L 2 ). Thiswasrepeatedusingdifferentconstant
levelsoff2 from 25 to 65 dB SPL. The choiceof 40 dB SPL

825 J. Acoust.Soc.Am.,Vol.88, No.2, August1990 S.A. GaskillandA.M. Brown:Acousticdistortion

products 825

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 2O 2O

-10

-2O
-2010 i.i f.2 f.3 f.4 i'-5 FIG.3.Thefinestructure
ofthepattern
of
72/71 ?rmqumncy ratio 72/?1 ?r•guency rotio ADP level with increasingstimulusfre-
quencyseparation. ADP levelshownasa
functionof frequencyseparation. f l was
20' 2O
constant;f2wasvariedto increasethefre-
quencyratio from 1.09to 1.31or 1.35in
stepsof 0.01. L 1 = 55 and L 2 = 40 dB
SPL. Results from four ears are shown. In

o• lO oolo (c) and (d) this sequencewas repeated

after various time intervals. (a) subject
SAG(L),fl = 3174 Hz; (b) subjectHC,
fl = 1000 Hz; (c) subject SAG,
fl = 2000 Hz, solidlineMay 1988,dashed
•-o •o
line May 1989, dotted line = July 1989;
o
(d) subject CAW, fl = 4000 Hz, solid
line 3 weeks before dashed line.

.o -lO _• -10

-2o -20.
o i.i i'.• f.m f.4 f.5 D i'.l f.2 ½3 ½4 ½5
72/71 ?nequency riorio 72/71 ?requency rotio

for thelowestleveloff 1and25 dBSPLfor thelowestlevelof acrossfrequency.Figure5 showsthat ADP growthrate is

f2 wasbasedon pilot experiments whichshowedthat, in
mostsubjects,verylittle distortioncouldbe recordedwith
stimulibelowtheselevels.Any subjectswith recordabledis-
tortion at these lowest stimulus levels were also tested with
stimuluslevelsstartingfromL 1 = 30 dB SPL andL 2 = 12
dB SPL. The dependence of the ADP levelon L 1 couldbe
plotteddirectlyfromtheseresults, anditsdependence onL 2
couldbe derivedfrom them. This sequencewas repeatedat
differentfl frequencies.
Anf2/fl ratioof 1.225wasusedin
every case.
The resultsfrom onesubjectat onefrequencycombina-
tionareshownin Fig. 5 andillustratecertaintrendscommon
to all subjectstested.Individualcurvesin Fig. 5(a) show
ADP growthasL 1 is incremented relativeto a stationary
L 2, andindividualcurvesin Fig. 5(b) showADP growthas
L 2 is incrementedrelative to a stationaryL 1. The numbers
by eachcurveindicatethelevelof thestationary
stimulus
in
dB SPL. As the level of one stimulus increasesrelative to the
stationarystimulus,the ADP level initially showslinear
growth,followedbysaturation,andin mostcases,anactual
decline.This patternof growthis seenacrosssubjects
and
dependent on whichof thetwo stimuliisbeingincremented
and on the level of the stationarystimulus.
In all subjectstested,for a particularlevel stationary
stimulus,the initial growthslopewassteeperfor L 1 incre-
ments than for L 2 increments. Growth rates were calculated
from a minimumof threedatapointsforminga straight-line
segmentbeforesaturationof the response(with low-level
stimuli,manytrialsdid notyieldanadequatenumberof data
pointsfor a slopemeasurement).Table IV showsmean
slopesacross frequency andacrosssubjects for eachstation-
ary stimulus.
IncreasingL 1tendsto givea slopea little greaterthan 1
(averageof 1.21), whileincreasing L 2 tendsto givea slopea
little lessthan 1 (averageof 0.867); i.e., the ADP level is
moredependent onL 1thanL 2. As thelevelofthestationary
stimulusis increased,the growth rate with L 1 increments
increases slightly.Thispatternof increasinggrowthratewas
more markedin somesubjectsthan others.There is no evi-
dencein the averageddata in Table IV of a similar trend
whenL 2 is incrementedrelativeto differentstationarylevels
off 1. Somesubjects
did showa slightincreasein the growth

826 J. Acoust.Soc.Am.,Vol.88, No.2, August1990 S.A. GaskillandA.M. Brown:Acoustic

distortion
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 3O
TABLE II. The effectof stimulusfrequencyon the rate of ADP levelde-
clinewith increasingfrequencyseparation.To excludeany effectof stimu- (a)
luslevel,parts(a) and (b) showresultsobtainedwith L 1 = L 2 = 55 dB
SPL and L 1 = 55 and L 2 = 40 dB SPL, respectively. 2O

(a) L 1 = L2 = 55 dB SPL
Rate of decline dB/oct c•10
fl (Hz)
Four ears KT AC AC(L) AMB

793 70 ........ •o
1000 '" 74 -" 112
1587 '" 100 81 '"
2000 "- 118 86 '" -10
3174 116 136 ......
4000 ...... 222 128
5039 '-' 156 ......
-2020 go
(b) L 1 = 55 and L2 = 40 dB SPL
Level o? each stimulus dB SPL
fl (Hz) Rate of declinedB/oct
3O
Seven
ears SAG SAG(L) JST TJ CAW TP FJN (b)

1259 ............... 125 ... 2O

1587 ... 309 ......... 113 --.
2000 236 ......... 186 ......
2519 ... 162 ... 171 .........
3174 ... 76 159 ............
4000 284 150 234 418 251 --. 295
5039 323 32 ............ 199
•o
ß
..'
ß
ß

-10

rate asa function of L 2, asthe level of the constant (L 1) was -20• 3 •o do •o do Vo go

increased.However, comparativelyfew measurementsof Leve 1 o? each st imul us dB SPL

slopewith L 2 incrementswerepossible dueto the fact that

the responsesaturatesat low levelsoff2, givingfew data
pointsbetweenthe noiseandthe pointof saturation.
The level of stimulation at which distortion saturates is FIG. 4. Growth of ADP asa functionof stimuluslevel.Equal-levelstimuli
covariedfrom 30 to 70 dB SPL in stepsof 3 dB for subjectSAG(L) shownin
dependentuponwhichstimulusisbeingincremented:Satu- (a) and 5 dB for subjectAMB shownin (b). This wasrepeatedat several
ration occursat lower levelsoff2 thanfl. Thus, as Fig. 5 differentfl frequenciesin eachsubject(individualcurves).f2/fl = 1.225.
shows,at the point wherethe levelof distortionreachesa F1 frequencycode:.... 1259 Hz; -- 1587 Hz; .... 2000 Hz;
ß.- = 3174 Hz; = 4000 Hz; .... 5039 Hz.
maximum,L 1 exceedsL 2 suchthat thereis an optimal level
separation.Data averagedacrosssubjects(Table V) shows
that thisoptimalseparationdecreases with increasinglevels
of the stationary stimulus.
L 1 alwaysexceeds L 2 in levelfor maximumdistortion
generationat any onefrequencycombination,but the wide separation
whichproduces
maximum
distortion
variesfrom
variationin growth pattern meansthat the stimuluslevel
L 1exceeding L 2 by 2-27 dB.Acrosssubjects,usingmoder-
atelevelsoff2 stimulation,i.e.,40-45 dB SPL,theoptimal
levelseparationis approximately 15 dB (seeTableV). A
separation
of 15dB withL 1> L 2 wasusedin theexperi-
TABLE III. The effectof stimulus level on the rate of ADP level decline ments to be described.
withincreasing
frequency
separation.
Resultsfromfiveears.f 1 = 4 kHz; Figure5 shows thatthepointofsaturation isdependent
L1 --L2.
onthelevelof thestationarystimulus.Oversuccessive trials
Stimulus asthelevelof thestationarystimulusisincreased, saturation
level (dB SPL) Rate of declinedB/oct occursat increasingly higherlevelsof theincremented stim-
Five ears KT AC(L) MD(L) CW CW(L) ulus.Lookingat Fig. 5 frombottomto top,thiscanbeseen
asa shiftto the right of the saturationpoint.
50 ...... 300 ......
55 52 218 295 73 91
Whilethepatternof growth,saturation, anddeclineis
60 160 322 --- 113 95 commonto all subjects,
the rate of growth,the maximum
65 96 209 176 48 52 ADP level, the stimulus level at which saturation and
bendoveroccur,and the rate of saturationall vary between

827 J. Acoust.Soc.Am.,Vol.88, No.2, August1990 S.A. GaskillandA.M. Brown-Acoustic

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 (a)

52

3O 30

m 2O

27••
-10.
, ) •o •o go •o ')o •o
L•vel o½ lel Stimulus dB SPL Lev•) o½ ½2 Stimulus dB SPL

FIG.5.GrowthofADPasonestimulusisincremented(in5-dBsteps)
relative
totheother,
fromsubject
CMP.fl = 1kHz;f2?fl = 1.225. (a) shows
individual
growth
curves
withincreasing
L 1;(b)showsindividual
growth
curveswithincreasing
L 2.Numbersmarked
byeachcurveindicate
thelevelofthe
stationary
stimulus
indBSPL.Individual
curvesareplotted
witha 10-dB
offset:
Toindicateabsolute
levels,
horizontal
barstotherightindicate
0dBSPLfor
each curve.

TABLE IV. The rate of ADP growthasonestimulusis incremented

rela- subjectsandacrossfrequency. Figure6 illustrates
the vari-
tiveto theother;n = numberof slopes. ation betweensubjectswhenall stimulusparameters are
identical,
andFig.7 illustrates
howthegrowthpatterns vary
(a) IncreasingL 1 relativeto a stationaryL 2
acrossfrequencyin onesubject.
Stationary Meangrowth
L 2 (dB SPL) n slope s.d.

< 36 5 0.88 0.129

40 12 1.13 0.213
45 6 1.16 0.249
50 6 1.23 0.215 TABLE V. Thelevelseparation
ofthetwostimuli(L 1> L 2) necessaryto
55 5 1.34 0.252 generate
maximumdistortion(optimallevelseparation),
whereL 1 is in-
60 5 1.38 0.160 creasedrelativeto a stationaryL 2; n = numberof trials.
65 6 1.41 0.143

45 1.21 0.256 Mean optimal

Stationary levelseparation
(b) IncreasingL 2 relativeto a stationaryL 1 L 2 (dB SPL) n (dB) s.d.
Stationary Mean growth
25 6 23.2 2.0
L 1 (dB SPL) n slope s.d.
30 7 18.1 2.2
55
35 8 17.6 3.7
11 O.864 0.145
6O 40 9 15.2 3.6
5 O.83O 0.117
65
45 6 14.5 4.4
8 0.893 0.138
50 6 9.3 2.8
24 0.867 0.139 55-60 5 5.2 2.7

828 J. Acoust.
Soc.Am.,Vol.88, No.2, August1990 S.A. GaskillandA.M. Brown:
Acoustic
distortion
products 828

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 (• (a)

2O
• 20

•10
N10
I

o0

-10

-•0

-20•!o Jo •o •o •o Vo
-20. Lmvml o• •! Stimulus dB SPL
• •o •o •o •o •o õo
L•v•l o• F1 Stimulus dB SPL
3O

3O (b)

(b)
_j 2•

• 20
........... ...................
ß.... ---
•_ i o T •-.'•f " '..............
N•0
I

o0

010
-•0

_2oj
o Wo
do Level oF •'2 Stimulus dB SPL
•0

-20,
•' •o •o •o do Vo •o
L•vel oF F2 Stimulus dB SPL
FIG. 7.Variations
inADP levelgrowth
patternsacrossfrequency. Growth
ofADP asonestimulusisincremented
in steps
of 3 dB,relativetotheother
FIG. 6. Variationsin ADP levelgrowthpatternsacrosssubjects.
Growthof stationarystimulus,
fromsubject
SAG.Measurementsmadeateightdiffer-
ADP asonestimulusis incremented (in 5-dBsteps),relativeto the other entf l frequencies.
F 1frequency
code:
.... 2160Hz; .... 2333Hz;-
stationarystimulus,from four subjects(SAG, AMB, CMP, and MU). --=2519 Hz; ---=2721 Hz; --=2939 Hz; --3174 Hz;
fl = 4 kHz,f2/fl = 1.225.(a) increasing L 1,L 2 = 40 dB SPL;(b) in- ....... 4666HZ;.... 5039Hz.f2/fl = 1.225.
(a) Increasing
L 1,
creasingL 2, L 1 = 55 dB SPL. L 2- 40dB SPL; (b) increasing
L 2, L 1 -- 55 dB SPL.

C. The patternsof ADPlevelacrossfrequency levelsof up to 20 dB SPL, but that this levelvariesconsider-

1. 1'hedistortion "agdio•ram " ablyacross frequencyin a givensubjectandacross subjects
for a givenf 1frequency.In an individualsubjectrecordable
Resultsfrom the aboveexperiments
enabledthe choice levelsof distortioncanvaryby up to 25 dB.
of stimulusparametersmostsuitablefor the measurementof Distortion "audiograms" (measured with f2/fl
acoustic
distortionacross
frequency
in our subjects.
A fre- = 1.225 and L 1 = 55 and L 2 = 40 dB SPL) from 12 sub-
quencyseparationratio of 1.225givesrecordablelevelsof jects(6 male,6 female)wereaveraged, andthe meandata
distortionacrossfrequency andacross subjects.To ensure areshownin Fig. 8. All thesesubjects hadauditorythresh-
the generationof recordablelevels of distortion without oldswithin20 dBof normalacross thefrequency range1-8
forcingtheADP intoits saturation region,levelsof 40-45 kHz ("normal"thresholdaudiogramtakenfromLarsonet
dB SPL were usedforf2, with L 1 set 15 dB aboveL 2. In al., 1988).Thesample included onlythosesubjectswhohad
subjectswhoyieldedfewdatapointswith L 2 = 40 dB SPL, recordable distortionat all thefrequenciestestedacrossthe
the measurement wasrepeatedwith L 2 = 45 dB SPL. range 1-5 kHz. Analysisof varianceshowedthat the vari-
The distortion"audiograms" fromscreening of all the ation in ADP level across frequencyis significant
subjects,revealed that acoustic distortion can be recorded [F(7,70) = 2.792, p=0.013]. Mean levelsof distortion
acrossa stimulus frequency rangeof 500-9600Hz (though from femaleearswerehigherthan thosefrom maleearsat
manysubjects did not respondacrossthe wholerange)at fiveof the eightfrequencies analyzed,but acrossthe whole

829 J.Acoust.
Soc.Am.,Vol.88,No.2,August
1990 S.A.Gaskill
andA.M.Brown:
Acoustic
distortion
products 829

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 2O
ß o
c-
-10 ' : ' ' ' '
1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
?1 Frequency Hz
FIG. 8. Average ADP levels across frequency range fl = 1-5 kHz;
L 1 = 55, and L 2 = 40 dB SPL;f2/fl = 1.225.Data from 12 subjects(6
males,averageage= 29 years;6 females,averageage= 26.7 years);audi-
tory thresholdswithin 20 dB of normal. Vertical lines indicate standard
deviation.
frequencyrange,this differencewasonly significantat 13%
level [F(1,10) = 2.646,p = 0.013]. The great intersubject
variability in distortion"audiograms"mentionedaboveis
reflectedby the large standarddeviationsmarked on the
graph.
2. Stability o! tY•eADP "audiogram"
In four subjects,from whom good levelsof distortion
could be recordedacrossa wide frequencyrange,further
studies were made of the ADP level variations
quencyto assess(a) the stabilityof the ADP "audiogram"
recordedwith differentear probes(two subjects)and (b)
the stability of the ADP acrossfrequencywith time (four
subjects).
(a) The influenceof theacousticpropertiesof the probe
on a cavityof meatalproportionsis describedin Sec.I. The
impedanceof the probe was measurablydifferent from a
blanked-offreferenceprobeonly above4 kHz. To determine
theextentto whichtheacoustic propertiesof theprobeaffect
the patternof ADP level acrossfrequency,distortionwas
measured
at 1/3-octintervals
from1to 8 kHz (L 1 = 55and
L 2 = 40 dB SPL; f2/f 1 = 1.225) usingthe four probesof
differingacousticimpedancedescribedin Sec.I. The results
for subjectSAG are shownin Fig. 9 (a). The distortion"au-
diograms"obtainedusingthefourprobesremainedrelative-
ly constant,i.e., independentof the probeproperties.The
measurementsshownby the short-dashedcurve were made
by a slightlylargerdiameterprobewhichdid not fit snugly
into this subject'sear canal.It is likely that probefit rather
than probe acousticcharacteristicscausedthe difference
seen in this case. These results indicate that the acoustic
properties
of theprobedonotsignificantly
influencethepat-
ternsof ADP levelandthresholdacrossfrequency.The dis-
830 J. Acoust.Soc.Am.,Vol.88, No. 2, August1990
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2O
(a)
-lid
' '
Stimulus Frequency kHz (F1 Frequency For ^DP)
2O
(b)
• •o
• 0
-lO
0.5
St imulus Frequency kHz (?1 Frequency For ADP)
across fre- FIG. 9. The stabilityof acousticdistortion.Distortionaudiogramsfrom
subjectSAG. Readingstakenat 1/3-octintervalsfrom 1 to 8 kHz; L 1 -- 55
and L2- 40dB SPL;f2/fl- 1.225. (a) Measurementsmadewith four
differentear probes.(b) Measurements madeover a periodof 9 months:
January*--*; March *-'-*; July *•*; September*- - -*
tortion "audiogram" in this subject has a trough at
f 1 = 2519Hz. Thiswasa frequency regionof poorsensitiv-
ity (seeaheadto Fig. 14) andlow stimulusfrequencyemis-
sionfor bothstimuli (seeaheadto Fig. 12).
(b) To assess
the reproducibilityof distortionreadings
within an individual ear, measurementswere made across
frequencyaftervarioustime periods.ADP levelswerefound
to be extremelystableovertime, despitedifferentprobefits
andthe useof differentprobes.Figure9(b) showsexamples
of distortionaudiogramstaken over a periodof 9 months
from subjectSAG (readingstaken at 1/3-oct intervals
acrossthe frequencyrange1-8 kHz; L 1 = 55 andL 2 = 40
dB SPL;f2/fl = 1.225). The maximumdiscrepancy over
this periodwas 5 dB. It was suggested abovethat a poor
probefit wasresponsible for changesin the distortion"au-
diogram"betweenprobes[Fig. 9(a) ]. This explanationis
supportedby the resultsshownin Fig. 9(b) in whichADP
S.A. GaskillandA.M. Brown:Acousticdistortion
products 830
 15
gram is broadlyfeatured,while 1/9- and 1/18-oct stepsre-
veal the fine structureof this pattern.
lO In eight subjects(ten ears), fine detaileddistortionau-
diogramswere measuredand the stabilityof the fine struc-
ture tested.In eachsubjectthree 1/18-oct distortionaudio-
gramswereconsecutively measuredoverthesamefrequency
range.1/18-oct intervalscouldplaceup to threeconsecutive
f l frequencieswithin the sameauditory filter (filter band-
widths estimated from psychoacousticexperiments;see
-5 I I I I I
Moore and Glasberg, 1983). Examplesof the resultsare
20
shownin Fig. 11 (in eachexamplestimuluslevelsofL 1 -- 55
andL 2 = 40dBSPLandf2/fl ratio of 1.225wereused). In
15 (a), the probewasremovedand replacedbetweentrials.
Each of the ten ears tested showed a fine-structured dis-

10
tortion audiogram.This could be reproducedon successive
measurementwith varyingsuccess, dependingon the prox-
imity of the responseto the noisefloor. In five earsthe re-
sponsewaswell abovethe noise,asin Fig. 11,andwashighly
reproducible,thus excluding probe instability and back-
groundnoiseascausativefactorsof thisfinestructure.With-
in the fine structure,the ADP levelchangesat ratesof up to
-5 I I I I I 250 dB/oct, with an averageacross10ears(23 measures)of
2O 141.4 dB/oct (s.d. -- 39.4).

D. The effect of stimulus frequency emissions (SFEs)

q- 10
q- 5
-5
Stimulus ?requency kHz (71 ?requency ?or ADP)
FIG. 10. The fine structureof distortionaudiograms.Distortion audio-
gramsfrom subjectSAG measuredon differentdays,at (a) 1/3- and (b)
1/9-oct intervalsfrom fl = 1 to 8 kHz and (c) 1/18-oct intervalsfrom
fl = 1587to 4000 Hz. L 1 = 55 and L 2 = 40 dB SPL;f2/fl = 1.225.
levelsare repeatabledespitethe useof differentprobesand
differentear tips.
3. Fine structure of the distortion audiogram
The fine structureof ADP level acrossfrequencywith
smallincrementsin frequencyof oneof the primaries(i.e.,
increasingf2/fl ) and the stabilityof thisfinestructurewas
shown in Fig. 3. The extent to which this fine structure
would influencethe shapeof the distortionaudiogramwas
explored by making measurementswith progressively
smallerfrequencysteps.Figure 10 showsthree distortion
audiogramsfrom subjectSAG, takenat (a) 1/3-, (b) 1/9-,
and (c) 1/18-oct intervals. The 1/3-oct distortion audio-
on ADP level
Someexperimentswereundertakento ascertainthe role
of SFEs in the generationof the fine structureseenwith
smallchangesin stimulusfrequency.
Two overlaid stimulusfrequencyemissionspectraare
shownfor subjectSAG in Fig. 12. Particularlymarkedvari-
ation in the spectrumof the SFEs occurredacrossthe fre-
quencyrange 2.6-3.8 kHz. The distortionlevel was mea-
suredfor threeseparatetrials with the stimulusfrequencies
adjustedso that f l, f2, and then the distortionfrequency
weresteppedthroughthe frequencyregion2.6-3.8 kHz. In
eachcase,the stimulusfrequencyseparationratio (f2/fl)
wasincrementedfrom 1.09to 1.33in stepsof 0.01. The three
resultantresponse curvesare shownin Fig. 13togetherwith
the SFEsover the frequencyregionof interest.
The basic feature of a rise in ADP level as the stimulus
frequenciesseparate,reachinga maximum and declining,
are preserved regardlessof which component passed
throughtheSFE regionbeinginvestigated, but in additionto
this, all three curvesshowa fine stucturesuperimposedon
this broad feature. In the caseswhere thef2 and distortion
frequencies passthroughthis region [ Fig. 13(b) and (d) ],
thereis a moderatedegreeof correspondence betweenmaxi-
ma and minima in the SFE spectrumand the superimposed
fine structure of the ADP level curves (dashed lines link
corresponding frequencies).Little correspondence and less
markedfluctuationsin levelare seenin the curveforf 1 [ Fig.
13(c) ]. This may be accountedfor by the fact that, at
L 1 -- 55 dB SPL, the SFE was much smaller relative to the
stimuluslevel than it would be for a lower intensitysound,
e.g.,L 2 -- 40 dB SPL, suchthat the earcanalsoundpressure
was relatively immune to the SFE influence.The resultsim-
ply that, in thisnormal,healthyear, strongre-emissions af-

831 J. Acoust.Soc. Am., Vol. 88, No. 2, August1990 S. A. GaskillandA.M. Brown:Acousticdistortion

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 2O 2O

J
n
u•

1: lO

_J J

-lO -lO

Stimulus Frequency kHz (F1 Frequency For ^DR) Stimulus Frequency kHz (F1 Frequency For ADP)
20 20

J(b) I (d)
ß
?•
• :....**'"'"
"
-o lO 1: lo /'"; ........... 'b;....

>

J J

-10 , -10 ,
2 4 ]. 2
Stimulus Freouencv kHz (F1 Frequency For ADP) Stimulus Frequency kHz (F1 Frequency For ADP)

FIG. 11.Thestability
ofthefinestructure
ofdistortion
audiograms.
Eachgraph
shows
three
distortion
audiograms
taken
fromanindividual.
ear(two
subjects;
fourears).
Readings
taken
at1/18-oct
intervals.
Withtheexception
of(a),probe
fitwas
notadjusted
betweenconsecutive
distortion
audiograms.
In
each
case
L 1= 40andL 2= 55dBSPL;f2/f
1= 1.225.
Results
shown
arefromsubject
SAG, (a)right
ear,(b)leftearand
from
subject
CMP,(c)right
ear,
and (d) left ear.

fect the fine structure of the acoustic distortion without sub- To facilitate the comparisonbetweenan individual's
stantiallyalteringthe major features. acousticdistortionlevelsand their auditorysensitivity
acrossfrequency,thesetwo differentresponses
are plotted
E. ComparingADP levels with subjectivethresholds
on the samegraph, (seeFig. 14). They sharea common
across frequency
abscissa,but have individual ordinates: left-hand ordinate
In thefollowingexperiments
distortion
audiogramsand for distortionreadingsandright-handordinateforthreshold
subjective
threshold
audiogramsarecompared.In eachof26 readings.Thealignment of thetwoaxesisarbitrary.An au-
ears (23 subjects:11 female, 12 male), a distortion audio- ditorythreshold curvebasedonthatderivedbyLarsonetal.
gram(f2/fl = 1.225;L2 = 40or45dBSPL,L 1> L 2by15 (1988) for the ER-3A insertearphoneis alsomarkedon
dB) and a subjectiveaudiogramweremeasuredat 1/3-oct thesefiguresto indicatenormalhearinglevels.
intervalsacross
thefrequencyrangef1 = 500Hz (or 1kHz) Previousstudiessuggestthat acousticdistortioncomes
to 8 kHz (seeTableI for corresponding
f2 and distortion predominantly from the primaryfrequency region.There-
frequencies).
In 8 of these26 ears,troughs
in sensitivity
at fore,if ADP levelandauditorysensitivity areto beplotted
oneor morefrequencies
weremorethan 20 dB belownormal on theordinate,it isappropriatefor theabscissa
to beoneof
levelsof hearing. the stimulusfrequencies.Sincethe ADP level mustbe de-

832 J. Acoust.Soc.Am.,Vol.88, No.2, August1990 S.A. GaskillandA.M. Brown:

Acoustic
distortion
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 FIG. 12. Two overlaid derived stimulus
frequencyemissionspectrafrom subject
SAG. See method section for experi-
mental details.

I I i I I I I t I i

500 ]500 55OO

Frequency (500 Hz steps)

pendentuponboth of the primaryfrequencies, shoulddis- dentof L 2). The linear portionof the L 1 growthcurvesug-
tortion levelsbe comparedto auditorysensitivityat the cor- geststhat it may be possibleto extrapolateADP level down
respondingfl or f2 or the arithmeticmeanoffl andf27 to threshold,i.e., directly relating ADP levelsgeneratedby
The arithmeticmean is inappropriatesincethis study has stimuli ofL 1 = 55 andL 2 = 40 dB SPL to activity at thresh-
shownmarked variation in distortiongeneratingability of old. F 1 was therefore chosen for the abscissa and threshold
regions1/18-octapart,and the frequencyof the arithmetic measurements were made at thefl frequency.
mean is not a stimulusfrequency.The resultsreportedin Figure 14 showsexamplesfrom male and female sub-
Sec.IIB. showthat the ADP levelis more dependenton L 1 jects of the correspondence betweenthe featuresof the dis-
than L 2 (in somecasesADP levelappearsalmostindepen- .
tortion "audiogram"and the subjectiveaudiogramthat can
be obtainedwith appropriatestimulusparameters.Individ-
ual graphsshowpeaksand troughsin distortionlevel coin-
cidingwith peaksand troughsin sensitivity.
i i I I
Of the 26 ears tested, 25 yielded suificientdata for a
comparisonto be made of the distortionand thresholdau-
diograms. By subjectiveassessment,all but 5 of the ears
clearly showeda correspondence at somefrequencyrange.
L.
A quantitativemeasureof the correspondence for eachear is
FIG. 13. The relation of distortion fea-
m (a) givenin Table VI. The tableshowsthat 21 of the 25 earsgave
turesto stimulusfrequencyemissionsin
subjectSAG. (a) Detail of derivedstim- a negativecorrelationand that a statisticallysignificantcor-
ulus frequencyemissionspectrumfrom relationbetweenthe two responses
wasseenin half of the
Fig. 12 acrossthe frequencyrange2.6- ears tested. (A significantpositivecorrelation was seenin ß

3.8 kHz. (b)-(d) showsADP level as a

functionof stimulusfrequencysepara-
tion (f2/fl ratio from 1.09 to 1.33 in
n stepsof0.01).L 1 = 55andL 2 = 40dB
(Y) (b) SPL; (b) plottedagainstf2 (f2 = 2956-
m • : .. : 3606 Hz; fl = 2712 Hz); (c) plotted
against fl (fl = 3606-2950 Hz;
f2 = 3930 Hz); (d) plottedagainstdis-
tortion frequency (DP -- 3600-2650
• O (c) Hz;fl = 3956 Hz). dB rel =dB re: the
response'to higher-level frequency
0 '
sweepafter normalization.Dotted lines
,-, -10
through major peaksin emissionspec-
>
trum to enablematching of peaksand
troughs.Lower ordinaterefersto curve
(d) (c); curves (b) and (d) have been offset
by + 20 and -- 20 dB, respectively.
2.6 2.9 3.2 3.5 3.8
Frequency in kHz
one subject:RW marked with an asterisk.)
Some sbbjectsshowed "mismatches"betweenthe fea-
turesof the distortionand subjectiveaudiograms(seeTable
VI). These could take the form of a decreasein ADP level at
a lowerfrequencythan the decreasein sensitivityoverpart of
the frequency range, giving the appearanceof a "shift"
betweenthe two curves:for example,subjectCMP (Fig.
15). While by subjectiveassessment it is clear that there is
somesimilarity betweenthe pattern of the two responses
from this subject,the correlationis not statisticallysignifi-
cant. Possibleexplanationsfor these mismatchesare dis-
cussed later.
In somecasesthe correspondence wasdisruptedby un-
recordabledistortion. Distortion lost in the noise usually
corresponded with poorsensitivity.In subjectsPD andRBG
(Fig. 14), distortion was lost in the noisetowards higher

' 833 J. Acoust.Soc. Am.,Vol. 88, No. 2, August1990 S.A. Gaskilland A.M. Brown:Acousticdistortionproducts 833

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 4O -20 4O -2O
Subject SAG Subject AMB

30 -10 30 -10

2O

10 lO 10

' ! \
2O o 2O

30 -lO • 3O

-2O 40 4O

(a) (d)
-•0 50 -30 5O
0.5 0.5

Stimulus Frequency kHz (F! Frequency For ADP) Stimulus Frequency kHz (F1 Frequency For ADP)

4O -20 40 -20
Subject SAG(L) Subject JST

-10 3O -lO
J

m 2O

• lO 10 lO

•
o
0 / 2O q-
o
0 2o

> -10

-20 4o

(e)
50 -:30 5o
0.5 1 2 4 B 16 0.5

Stimulus Frequency kHz (F1 Frequency For ADP) Stimulus Frequency kHz (F1 Frequency For ADP)

40 -20 40 -20
Subject RBG(L) Subject PD(L)
30 -lO 30 -10

•m 10 lO 20
............................
lO ..................
ß
"•"'0 ,•,
lO

• 0 20 o 2o
o

> -10 3o -10 30

-2O 4o -20 40

(c)
-30 -90 50
0.5 oso o.s
Stimulds Frequency NHz (F1 Frequency For ADP) Stimulus Frequency kHz (71 Frequency ?or ADP)

FIG. 14.Distortionaudiograms, *- - -*, compared

withsubjective
audiograms
+ I + , fromsixears(fivesubjects:
SAGandAMB female;JST,RBG, and
PD male).f2/f 1 = 1.225.(a)-(d) L 1 = 55andL 2 = 40dBSPL;(e) and(f) L 1 = 60andL 2 = 45dBSPL.Thedottedlineindicates
normalhearinglevel
acrossfrequency(from Larson et al., 1988).

834 J. Acoust.
Soc.Am.,Vol.88,No.2, August
1990 S.A.Gaskill
andA.M. Brown:
Acoustic
distortion
products 834

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 TABLE VI. Correlationbetweensubjectiveand distortionaudiograms.

(a) 10 fi•malesubjects
Number of Stimulus level Correlation Level of
Subject data points Age (dB SPL L 1/L 2) coefficient significance

SAG 10 24 55/40 --0.751 p <0.02

SAG(L) 9 55/40 --0.949 p <O.0005
AMB 12 41 55/40 --0.623 p <0.025
AMB(L) 10 55/40 - 0.763 p <0.005
LC 9 33 55/40 -0.726 p <0.025
FJN 9 21 55/40 -0.557 p>0.05
CMP 11 24 55/40 --0.444 p>0.05
JAH 9 24 55/40 -0.491 p>0.05
ACB 8 17 55/40 + 0.574 p > 0.05

TP 9 25 6O/45 -0.841 p < O.005

AFB 5 15 60/45 -0.659 p>0.05
HH 10 24 6O/45 -0.335 p>0.05

(b) 12 male subjects

Number of Stimulus level Correlation Level of
Subject datapoints Age (dB SPL L 1/L 2) coefficient significance

JST 8 24 55/40 --0.876 p <0.005

MU 12 38 55/40 -- 0.727 p <0.005
LA 7 50 55/40 --0.032 p>0.05
JC 10 25 55/40 + 0.607 p > 0.05
DM 6 21 55/40 + 0.224 p > 0.05
GS(a) 4 32 55/40 -- 0.846 p < 0.05
GS(b) 13 55/40 -- 0.084 p > 0.05

RBG 8 34 6O/45 -- 0.731 p <0.025

RBG(L) 9 34 60/45 --0.778 p<0.01
*RW 7 49 60/45 + 0.808 p < 0.05
CG(L) 9 25 60/45 --0.622 p<0.05
MK 10 30 60/45 --0.365 p>0.05
PD 8 26 60/45 --0.475 p>0.05
MJG 7 22 60/45 --0.256 p>0.05

4O '-20 frequenciesand therewasa corresponding dip in sensitivity.

SubJect CMP With an improvementin sensitivityat 8 kHz, recordable
SO -10
distortionreappeared.Despitethis, the two responses were
not significantlycorrelatedin subjectPD.
The stability of distortion and its relation to auditory
u) 20 O m
sensitivity(as describedin the abovesections)indicate that
changesin sensitivityover time could be monitored using
• •o lO .c
distortion readings.An opportunity to monitor ADP fol-
lowingtransientcochlearimpairmentarosewhenoneof our
20 4•
•-
0
0 ß
subjects(GS, an experiencedaudiologicalscientist)suffered
o
suddenonsetof diplacusis,intermittenttinnitus,and moder-
> -10 ao • ate hearinglossin his left ear. Distortion and thresholdre-
>

sponses weremeasuredat the onsetof thesesymptoms[ Fig.

-2O 4O 16(a) ] and repeated18 dayslater when his hearinghad al-
mostreturnedto normal [ Fig. 16(b) ]. Detailsof the statisti-
cal analysisof the correspondence of the two responseson
eachoccasionare givenin Table VI [ GS (a) and (b) in table
Stimulus Fr•quency kHz (F1 Frequency For ADP) correspondto Fig. 16(a) and (b), respectively ].
The resultsshow changeswith time in both threshold
and distortionaudiograms.Betweenthe first [ Fig. 16(a) ]
FIG. 15.As Fig. 14 from onefemalesubjectCMP: L 1 = 55 and L 2 -- 40 and second [Fig. 16(b)] set of measurements,auditory
dB SPL;f2/fl = 1.225. thresholdsimprovedby between10and20 dB. In the firstset

835 J. Acoust.Soc. Am., Vol. 88, No. 2, August1990 S.A. Gaskilland A.M. Brown'Acousticdistortionproducts 835

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 40 -2O
tion areused(not exceeding60 dB SPL), andL 1 isset 15dB
Subject GS(L)
higherthanL 2, 2f 1 --f2 distortionis commonly35 dB be-
-10 low L 2, with highestlevelsof 20 dB belowL 2. Severalpre-
J
viousstudieshavereportedvery low levelsof humanacous-
tic distortion,for example,65 dB belowstimulirecordedby
Kemp and Brown (1983) and 55-65 dB below stimuli re-
lo cordedby Harris et al. (1989). Our resultsindicatethat the
comparativelylow ADP levelsrecordedin the abovestudies
• 0 may havebeendueto theuseof highlevelsoff2 stimulation.
o
The frequencyseparationof the two stimuli can be in-
> -10 creasedby changingthe frequencyof oneor bothof the stim-
uli. Increasingthe frequencyseparationresultsin an in-
creasein ADP level to a maximum followedby a decline,
-20: 40
whetherr 1 (Wier etal., 1988;Furstetal., 1988),f2 (Brown,
1987;Lonsbury-Martinetal., 1987), orfDP (Wilson, 1980;
-90 50 Harris et al., 1989) remainsfixed. However, it has alsobeen
0.5 1 2 4 8 18
shownthat thelevelof anADP isdependent upontheprox-
Stimulus ?requency kHz (71 ?requency?or ADP)
imity of the distortionfrequencyto a spontaneous emission
4O -2O (Furst et al., 1988;Weir, 1988). If the frequencyseparation
SubJect GS (L) is alteredby adjustingthe frequencyof both of the stimuli
3O -10
such that the distortion frequency remains constant,it
would be possiblefor the distortionfrequencyto fall con-
tinuouslyat a narrowregionof abnormallyhighexcitability,
oo
e.g., at a spontaneous emissionor siteof very high re-emis-
N
sion.This would givean uni'epresentative pictureof the ef-
,• lO lO
fectof increasing stimulusfrequencyseparation. By varying
N
the frequencyof oneof the stimuli (thusvaryingthe distor-
• 0 2o •
o tion frequency),this situationwas avoided.
Our re•ult• •how that the averageontirnal frem•ene.
................. r v• d

30
4O
-90
0.5
Stimulus ?requency kHz (?1 ?requency For ADP)
FIG. 16. As Fig. 14 from subjectGS: (a) measurements taken at onsetof
transientcochlearimpairment of unknown aetiology;(b) measurements
taken2 weekslater,whenhearinghadalmostreturnedto normal.Readings
takenat 1/3-oct intervalsfromfl = 500 to 8000 Hz. L 1 - 55 andL 2 = 40
dBSPL;f2/fl = 1.225.Thresholdreadings+ -- + ßADPreadings*- - -*;
dottedline = normalhearinglevel.
of measurements,distortioncouldonly be measuredacrossa
narrow frequencyrange;in the secondset,ADP levelshad
increasedby up to 7 dB and could be recordedacrossthe
whole frequencyrange investigated.These resultsclearly
showthat acoustic2f 1 - f2 canfollowtemporarychangesin
subjectivesensitivityin human subjects.
III. DISCUSSION
With detailedknowledgeof ADP levelbehavior,stimu-
lusparameterscanbechosento generaterecordableacoustic
distortionin all our subjects.In somesubjectsADP can be
recordedacrossa four-octavefrequencyrange.The results
reported here show that, when moderatelevelsof stimula-
,
•
>
separationratio is 1.225. This is in closeagreementwith
Harris et al. who report an optimal ratio of 1.22. However,
the higheststimuluslevelsusedin our study(L 1 -- L 2 -- 65
dB SPL) were the lowest levels used by Harris et al.
(L 1 -- L 2 -- 65-85 dB SPL), and therefore the data from
the two studiesbeardirectcomparisononlyat thislevel.Our
resultsshowedlittle variationin the optimalratio acrossfre-
quencyanddid not showthesystematic dependence onstim-
ulus level reportedby Harris et al. (1989), who saw some
evidenceof a decreasein the optimal ratio with increasing
frequencyand with decreasingstimuluslevel. Harris et al.
reportedthesetrendsfor stimuli above65 dB SPL. Our re-
sults indicate that such trends are not shown with lower
stimulus levels.
As the frequencyseparationis increasedbeyondthe op-
timal ratio, a rapid declinein ADP level is seen.At eachf 1
frequency,the rate of declineshowedconsiderablevariation
between subjects.In agreementwith the observationsof
Harris et al., our results showed that the decline with in-
creasingfrequencyratio becomessteeperat higherfrequen-
cies.However,the rangeof slopesandthe maximumgradi-
ent (30-420 dB/oct) describedhereweregreaterthanthose
reportedby Harris et al. ( 102-134dB/oct). In our studythe
mostgradualratesof declinewith increasingfrequencyratio
tendedto be seenat the highestlevel of stimulation.This
supportsthe observationby Harris et al. of a progressive
decreasein declinerate with increasingstimuluslevel.Re-
sultsfrombothstudiesthereforesuggest that the moregrad-
ual slopesobservedby Harris et al. may be dueto the useof
comparativelyhigh levelsoff2 in the latter study.

836 d. Acoust.Soc. Am., Vol. 88, No. 2, August1990 S. A. Gaskilland A.M. Brown:Acousticdistortionproducts 836

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 The width of the responsecurveobtainedwith increas-
ing frequencyseparationmay reflectmechanicaltuning of
the cochlea.Broadly tuned basilarmembrane (BM) travel-
ing-waveenvelopes wouldcontinueto interactandthusgen-
eratedistortionat wider frequencyseparationsthan sharply
tuned envelopes.Experimentallybroadeningthe envelopes
by increasingthe level of stimulationdoesindeedresult in
wider ADP responsecurves.
Psychoacoustic and acousticmeasurementsagreethat
distortion levels decreaseat wide frequency separations
wherethereis insufficientinteractionbetweenBM traveling
wave envelopesto generatedistortion. However, psycho-
acousticmeasurements showno declineat closefrequency
ratios;instead,perceiveddistortioncontinuesto growasthe
frequencyseparationis decreased(Goldstein, 1967;Wilson,
1980).
It is likely that the basisof this differencelies in the
differing origins of acoustic and perceived distortion.
2f 1 -f2 is generatedat a frequencyregion(the primaryre-
gion) whichis not tunedto thedistortionfrequencyandthus
wherevibrationwill be positivelydamped.From the siteof
generation,distortionpropagatesboth basally,to be record-
ed directly in the ear canaland, apically,to peak at its own
characteristicplaceon the BM wherethe vibrationis-more
sustaineddue to negativedamping,givingriseto perceived
distortion.If distortionis generatedat the beatrate (Kemp
and Brown, 1986), then,whenthe stimuliare closetogether
(and the beat rate is slow), distortionwill be generatedin
discreteburstsat the primaryfrequencyregion.This region
is not "tuned" to the ADP frequency,the vibrationwill be
positivelydamped,and the re-emitteddistortionwill, after
some frequencydispersiondue to different propagation
times,emergeassuccessive burstsof energy.Apicallytravel-
ing distortionburststhat arrive at the distortionfrequency
placemay lead to sustainedvibration,due to local negative
damping,whichmay thenprovidealmostcontinuousstimu-
lation to the afferentnervefibersfrom this region.Decreas-
ing the frequencyseparationresultsin a decreasein the beat
rate. For closelyspacedstimuli, the root-mean-square level
of distortionovera periodof timemaydiffergreatlyfromthe
peak level emitted at eachbeat cycle.The ear canal micro-
phone collectsdata which are translatedinto an rms level.
The distortionfrequencyplace,ontheotherhand,maymea-
surenearpeakenergyof a slowlydecayingoscillationwhich
is reinforcedat eachbeat cycle.Decreasingthe frequency
ratio •would, therefore, result in a decreasein the level of
acousticallyrecorded,but not necessarilyof perceiveddis-
tortion.
Another feature of the responsewith decreasingfre-
quency separationis that, while the level of 2fl-f2 de-
creases,higher-ordercomponentstend to increasein level
and number (Brown, 1987). It is possiblethat in psychoa-
cousticstudies,thetotal (n •- 1)f 1 - nf2 distortionpackage
may contributeto the perceptionof 2f 1 -f2 at closeratios,
while the comparableacousticstudieshave measuredthe
level of 2fl -f2 alone.
With covariedstimuluslevels,the growthrateof acous-
tic distortionhasa siopeof approximately1. This confirms
the resultsof previousanimalstudies(Brown, 1987;Lons-
837 J. Acoust.Soc. Am., Vol. 88, No. 2, August1990
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bury-Martin et al., 1987; Martin et al., 1988) and human
studies(Pasanenet al., 1987;Wier et al., 1988), and sup-
ports the idea that distortiongenerationis governedby a
normalized power seriesnonlinearity (Goldstein, 1967).
However, studiesof rodent distortionhave shownthat by
incrementingthe level of only one stimulus, more rapid
growth is seen (Brown, 1987). To our knowledge,ADP
growthwith one stimulusincrementedrelativeto the other
has not previouslybeenreportedfor human subjects.Our
findingsshowevidenceof compression,particularly for low
stimuluslevels.This compressive growthandsaturationisin
accordancewith modelsof the cochlearamplifier (CA) and
supportsthe notionthat ADP is the by-productof this am-
plification process;i.e., compressiveADP growth reflects
the CA adjustingfor stimuluslevel, amplifying relatively
more at low levelsthan at high. ADP level saturationmay
reflect the "upper limit" of the amplificationmechanism.
With higherlevelsof stationaryL 2, theslopeasa functionof
L 1,approachedthat predictedby classicalpowerseriesnon-
linearity,but neveractuallyreachedthe predictedslopeof 2.
This suggests that at higher levelsoff2, the nonlinearityis
lesscompressive. LouderstationarylevelsofL 1did not seem
to affectthe slope.This isprobablydueto thefactthat stimu-
lus overlapoccursat thef2 site,and thusthe normalization
processis not as dependenton L 1 as it is on L 2.
Predictedpatternsof the BM traveling-waveenvelopes
may explainwhy, with a ratio of 1.225and L 2 at 40-45 dB
SPL, the maximum level of distortion is seenwhen the stim-
uli are 15 dB apart. At closeratios,equallevel stimuli in the
ear canalare nearlyequalin levelat the overlapregionon the
BM where distortion is thought to be generated (Hall,
1974). For close ratios, ADP level maxima are seen when
thestimuliareof near-equal
level(KempandBrown,1986).
At wider ratios,equallevelsin the ear canalwill not be equal
at the point of overlap:There will be a larger contribution
fromf2 thanfl. Thus,to equalizecontributionsat the over-
lap (and maximizeADP level), L 1 mustbe sethigherthan
L 2 in the ear canal (Wiederhold et al., 1986). Thus it ap-
pearsthat the optimal level separationis dependentupon
frequencyseparation.Further studies(seeBrown and Gas-
kill, 1990) indicate that the optimal level separationdoes
vary with ratio and that at wideratiosthe optimallevelsepa-
rationisgreaterthan at closeratios.With increasinglevelsof
stimulationthe travelingwaveenvelopebecomesbroaderat
its peak.Therefore,for a particularratio, higherlevelstimuli
will resultin greaterbasalwardextensionofthell vibration
and thus the difference between the levels of the two stimuli
at the generationsitewill diminish.This couldexplainwhy
the optimallevelseparationwasseento decreasewith higher
levels of the constant stimulus.
Measuringacousticdistortionacrossa wide frequency
range,but at small frequencyintervals,showsthat human
distortion audiogramsmeasuredwith moderate stimulus
levelsnot only exhibitbroadfeaturesacrossfrequency,they
alsoshowa fine structureof abrupt changesin ADP level
superimposed uponthesefeatures.Within the finestructure,
the ADP levelcan changeat ratesof up to 250 dB/oct. An
individual'spatternof featuresandfinestructureremainsta-
ble with time. The fine structureof distortion audiograms
S.A. Gaskilland A.M. Brown:Acousticdistortionproducts 837
 resemblesthreshold microstructure (Elliott, 1958; van den audiogramsacrossat leastpart of the frequencyrangeinves-
Brink, 1970;Thomas, 1975;Kemp, 1979b;Long, 1984). tigated. A statisticallysignificantcorrelationbetweenthe
Using moderate (and unequal) stimulus levels, the two responses acrossthe wholefrequencyrangewasseenin
comparisonof ADP fine structureand stimulusfrequency 50% of the ears.There are severalpossiblereasonsfor the
emissionstrengthin one subjectdemonstratedthat ADP mismatches seenin whichtwo responses do notcorrespond
levelsareonly slightlyaffectedby the maximaandminimain acrossthe whole frequencyrange.First, the ADP level is
the SFE responsewhen thesefall at the f2 and distortion dependentuponboth of the stimuli,but the comparisonis
frequencies. The characteristic broadfeatureof ADP level with sensitivityto only one of the stimulusfrequencies. A
seen with increasingfrequencyseparation (increaseto a frequencyseparationratio of 1.225setsf 1 andf2 0.294of an
maximum followed by decline) was preserveddespite a octave apart. Detailed distortion audiogramshav.e shown
highlystructuredSFE spectrum.However,it ispossible that that therecanbesignificantchangesin the levelof distortion
in subjectswith moreextremevariationsin localexcitability as the stimulimoveonly an •8 of an octave(0.055of an
(shownby extremevariationin level in their SFE spectra), octave).Thusa ratioof 1.225couldplacer1andf2 at regions
this variation may dominatepatternsof ADP level across of very disparatesensitivity,If the mechanicalresponseat
frequencyand obscurethe broadfeatures.The subjectsre- thef2 regionisimpaired,thendistortionmaynotbegenera-
portedby Wier et al. (1988) and Furst et al. (1988) may ted, despitea sensitive f 1 region.This may explainwhy in
representsuch a condition,where the ADP responseis somecasessensitivityto f 1 was goodwhile distortionwas
'dominated by a particularly active stimulusfrequencyor absentor reduced,In such casesa closercorrespondence
spontaneous emissionregion. may have beenachievedif the distortionaudiogramhad
In any interpretationof the variationsacrossfrequency, beencomparedto subjective thresholdsat thef2 frequency.
the transmission propertiesof the "wholeear" mustbe con- Second,it is possiblethat in subjectsat somef 1 frequencies
sidered.Distortion generatedby moderatelevelsof stimula- f2/fl = 1.225wasnot the idealfrequencyseparation.For
tion is a cochlearphenomenon, andthereforethe presence of example,Fig. l(b) showsthat whenfl = 2 kHz, subject
distortionat any one frequencycombinationsindicates that FJN has a "notch" in the response curve when
the cochleais activeat the primary frequencyregion.How- f2/f 1 = 1.225.Thismayhavecontributedto thefactthat the
ever, the absolute level of acoustic distortion must reflect distortionand subjectiveaudiogramsdid not significantly
both the middle ear and cochlearresponse.The impedance correlatein this subject.Third, the distortionaudiogram
of the whole ear, includingany contributionmade by the couldbe influencedby strongSFEs,thusobscuringthe cor-
micromechanics of the organof Corti, determinesthe abso- respondencewith auditory sensitivity. Last, some of the
lute levelsof acousticdistortion. This includes ( 1) the trans- "mismatches" werealmostcertainlydueto subjectinexperi-
missionof the stimuli to the point of distortiongeneration, ence of the threshold task. Some of the best matches were
(2) distortiongeneratingcapabilityof the particularstimu- obtainedfrom subjectswho had participatedin other audi-
lus region of the cochlea, (3) the strengthof re-emission tory experiments.
from the distortionfrequencysite,and (4) the transmission This study appearsto be the first demonstrationof a
of the distortion out into the ear canal. frequency by frequency corespondencebetween human
However, the passivepropertiesof the middle ear can- acousticdistortionand auditorysensitivity.The resultssug-
not.explain thesharpdeclineseenwithincreasing stimulus gest that, if appropriatestimulusparametersare chosen,
separationor the compressive growthcurves.Variationsin acousticdistortioncouldbe usedto make an objectiveinves-
fine structureof ADP level acrossfrequencyare numerous tigation of auditory function, where middle ear function is
and rapid (ratesof up to 250 dB/octave). Middle ear prop- normal.The resultsfrom subjectGS suggestthat distortion
ertiesalonecouldnot be responsible for this fine structure, "audiograms,"taken periodically,could be usedto monitor
thoughthey may influenceits frequencycomposition(see thresholdshiftsof cochlearorigin. This may be especially
discussionvan den Brink, 1965). beneficialto peoplewho risk noisedamagein their working
Stimuluslevelsfor the distortionaudiogramswerecho- environment.Sincethe presenceof acousticdistortionun-
sensuchthat distortionreadingscamefrom the linear por- questionablyreflectscochlearactivity, distortionmeasure-
tion of the ADP growth curve. Assumingthat this linear mentscouldform thebasisof a valuablescreeningtechnique
growth extendsdown near to thresholdand that the CA to detect early signsof cochlearimpairment. The results
governsboth thresholdand distortionoutput providesan from GS, PD, and RBG suggestthat a test basedon ADP
explanationfor the relationshipbetweenADP generatedby measurements would be most usefulfor indicatingthe fre-
moderate level stimuli and auditory sensitivity reported quencyregionsover which the cochleais functioningnor-
here.The meansby whichthe two responses areobtainedare mally, ratherthanfor evaluatingthe degreeof impairmentat
very different.The subjectivemeasureof eachthresholdre- a specificfrequency,sincethe ADP tendsto be lost in the
sponseis made to a quiet, singlefrequency;the objective noisewhen thresholdsare elevatedbeyond20-30 dB.
measureof acousticdistortionis made to a pair of stimuli An audiometric test based upon acoustic distortion
well abovethresholdlevel. In addition, the distortionprod- measurements would not only eliminatethe problemsasso-
uct frequencydiffersfrom the frequencyat whichthreshold ciatedwith subjectivemeasurements(e.g., subjectcoopera-
is measured. tion, anticipationof stimulus,experimenterbias), but would
By subjectiveassessment, 80% of the earstestedshowed alsotake a fractionof the time requiredto measureequiva-
a correspondencebetweenthe distortion and the threshold lent subjectivethresholds.

838 J. Acoust.Soc. Am.,Vol. 88, No. 2, August1990 S.A. Gaskilland A.M. Brown:Acousticdistortionproducts 838

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supportedby the Medical Research
Council(grantto A.M.B. ) andtheScienceandEngineering
ResearchCouncil (grant to S.A.G.). Someequipmentwas
providedfromgrantsfromtheWellcomeTrustandSmithk-
line Foundation. Transducers were kindly supplied by
Knowles Electronics. Thanks are due to T. Summers and D.
Moreman for technical assistance,and to I. J.Russell and
M.Kosslfor helpfulcommentand discussion.
The authors
acknowledgewith thanksthe valuablecomments
of the re-
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