2-TONE SUPPRESSION OF INNER HAIR CELL AND BASILAR-MEMBRANE RESPONSES IN THE GUINEA-PIG - COMMENT

Recent studies reveal that two-tone suppression is consistent with an attenuation model but only for a restricted set of stimulus parameters. The latter includes magnitude and phase changes produced by high-side suppressors for probe tones at and above CF. For these conditions, results at the mechanical, hair cell, and neural levels are in accord. However, when high-side suppressors are used to decrease responses below CF, data from IHCs in the apical half of the cochlea do not reveal the large phase leads predicted by an attenuation model. Further information from basal-turn IHCs may help to understand this incompatibility.