Selective Cochlear Destruction, Cochlear Potentials, and Hearing Loss

STUDIES in which selected portions of the cochlea are mechanically destroyed have long been a primary source of data for theories of hearing. From the very earliest work the attempt has been to demonstrate that the perception of pitch can be accounted for in the cochlea itself. In order to attack the problem, numerous techniques have been utilized to induce cochlear lesions, and various tests have been introduced to measure the resultant loss in sensitivity. Some 70 years after the initial studies were undertaken, there is still not complete agreement on how to interpret these and subsequent findings. The early work on this problem suffered from lack of precision in measurement at both the stimulus and response ends. With the development of electronic methods of handling sound and the discovery of cochlea potentials, these faults were remedied, but there still remained the question of the relationship between the electrophysiology of