Human Whole-Nerve Response to Clicks of Various Frequency

The averaged VIIIth nerve response to third-octave clicks at 500, 2000 and 8000 Hz was recorded from the promontory of 4 normal-hearing young adults. As click frequency is lowered, the N, latency increases in a manner consistent with the changes in velocity of the cochlear traveling wave. This finding suggests that clicks of different spectral content stimulate different regions of the basilar membrane. N amplitude shows a general increase with frequency; this observation appears related to the increased synchrony of neural firing that results from the higher velocity of the traveling wave in the more basal portions of the cochlea.