Cochlear place specificity of the auditory brainstem response (ABR) was investigated in five bottlenose dolphins by measuring ABRs to broadband clicks presented simultaneously with masking noise having various high-pass cutoff frequencies. Click and noise stimuli were digitally compensated to account for the transmitting response of the piezoelectric transducers and any multipath propagation effects to achieve “white” or “pink” spectral characteristics. Narrowband evoked responses were derived by sequentially subtracting responses obtained with noise at lower high-pass cutoff frequencies from those obtained with noise having higher cutoff frequencies. The results revealed little contribution to the click-evoked brainstem response from frequency bands below 10 kHz and, in dolphins with full hearing bandwidth, the largest amplitude derived band evoked responses were obtained from the highest frequency bands. Narrowband latencies decreased with increasing frequency and were adequately fit with a power function exhibiting relatively large change in latency with frequency below ∼30 kHz and little change above ∼30 kHz. These data demonstrate that frequency bands below ∼10 kHz do not substantively contribute to the farfield ABR in the bottlenose dolphin when using place-specific approaches such as high-pass subtractive-masking techniques.

1.
Branstetter
,
B. K.
, and
Finneran
,
J. J.
(
2008
). “
Comodulation masking release in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
124
,
625
633
.
2.
Burkard
,
R. F.
, and
Don
,
M.
(
2007
). “
The auditory brainstem response
,” in
Auditory Evoked Potentials: Basic Principles and Clinical Application
, edited by
R. F.
Burkard
,
M.
Don
, and
J. J.
Eggermont
(
Lippincott Williams and Wilkins
,
Philadelphia, PA
), pp.
229
253
.
3.
Burkard
,
R.
, and
Hecox
,
K.
(
1983
). “
The effect of broadband noise on the human brainstem auditory evoked response. II. Frequency specificity
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
74
,
1214
1223
.
4.
Burkard
,
R.
, and
Voigt
,
H. F.
(
1989
). “
Stimulus dependencies of the gerbil brain-stem auditory-evoked response (BAER). II: Effects of broadband noise level and high-pass masker cutoff frequency across click polarity
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
85
,
2526
2536
.
5.
Castellote
,
M.
,
Mooney
,
T. A.
,
Quakenbush
,
L.
,
Hobbs
,
R.
,
Goertz
,
C.
, and
Gaglione
,
E.
(
2014
). “
Baseline hearing abilities and variability in wild beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas)
,”
J. Exp. Biol.
217
,
1682
1691
.
6.
Dau
,
T.
,
Wegner
,
O.
,
Mellert
,
V.
, and
Kollmeier
,
B.
(
2000
). “
Auditory brainstem responses with optimized chirp signals compensating basilar-membrane dispersion
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
107
,
1530
1540
.
7.
Davis
,
H.
,
Hirsh
,
S. K.
,
Popelkaa
,
G. R.
, and
Formby
,
C.
(
1984
). “
Frequency selectivity and thresholds of brief stimuli suitable for electric response audiometry
,”
Audiology
23
,
59
74
.
8.
Don
,
M.
, and
Eggermont
,
J. J.
(
1978
). “
Analysis of the click-evoked brainstem potentials in man using high-pass noise masking
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
63
,
1084
1092
.
9.
Don
,
M.
,
Ponton
,
C. W.
,
Eggermont
,
J. J.
, and
Kwong
,
B.
(
1998
). “
The effects of sensory hearing loss on cochlear filter times estimated from auditory brainstem response latencies
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
104
,
2280
2289
.
10.
Donaldson
,
G. S.
, and
Ruth
,
R. A.
(
1993
). “
Derived band auditory brain-stem response estimates of traveling wave velocity in humans. I: Normal-hearing subjects
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
93
,
940
951
.
11.
Eggermont
,
J. J.
(
1979
). “
Narrow-band AP latencies in normal and recruiting human ears
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
65
,
463
470
.
12.
Eggermont
,
J. J.
, and
Don
,
M.
(
1980
). “
Analysis of the click-evoked brainstem potentials in humans using high-pass noise masking. II. Effect of click intensity
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
68
,
1671
1675
.
13.
Elberling
,
C.
,
Don
,
M.
,
Cebulla
,
M.
, and
Sturzebecher
,
E.
(
2007
). “
Auditory steady-state responses to chirp stimuli based on cochlear traveling wave delay
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
122
,
2772
2785
.
14.
Elberling
,
C.
, and
Wahlgreen
,
O.
(
1985
). “
Estimation of auditory brainstem response, ABR, by means of Bayesian inference
,”
Scand. Audiol.
14
,
89
96
.
15.
Evans
,
E. F.
, and
Elberling
,
C.
(
1982
). “
Location-specific components of the gross cochlear action potential: An assessment of the validity of the high-pass masking technique by cochlear nerve fibre recording in the cat
,”
Audiology
21
,
204
227
.
16.
Finneran
,
J. J.
,
Schlundt
,
C. E.
,
Branstetter
,
B. K.
,
Trickey
,
J.
,
Bowman
,
V.
, and
Jenkins
,
K.
(
2015
). “
Effects of multiple impulses from a seismic air gun on bottlenose dolphin hearing and behavior
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
137
,
1634
1646
.
17.
GraphPad Software
(
2014
). “
GraphPad Prism (version 6) [computer software]
,” (GraphPad Software, San Diego, CA).
18.
Greenwood
,
D. D.
(
1990
). “
A cochlear frequency-position function for several species - 29 years later
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
87
,
2592
2605
.
19.
Hall
,
J. W.
(
2007
).
New Handbook of Auditory Evoked Responses
(
Pearson
,
New York
),
736
pp.
20.
Herdman
,
A. T.
,
Picton
,
T. W.
, and
Stapells
,
D. R.
(
2002
). “
Place specificity of multiple auditory steady-state responses
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
112
,
1569
1582
.
21.
Hoke
,
M.
,
Ross
,
B.
,
Wickesberg
,
R.
, and
Lutkenhoner
,
B.
(
1984
). “
Weighted averaging - theory and application to electric response audiometry
,”
Electroencephalogr. Clin. Neurophysiol.
57
,
484
489
.
22.
Houser
,
D. S.
, and
Finneran
,
J. J.
(
2006
). “
Variation in the hearing sensitivity of a dolphin population obtained through the use of evoked potential audiometry
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
120
,
4090
4099
.
23.
Houser
,
D. S.
,
Gomez-Rubio
,
A.
, and
Finneran
,
J. J.
(
2008
). “
Evoked potential audiometry of 13 Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus gilli)
,”
Mar. Mammal Sci.
24
,
28
41
.
24.
Lucke
,
K.
,
Siebert
,
U.
,
Lepper
,
P. A.
, and
Blanchet
,
M.-A.
(
2009
). “
Temporary shift in masked hearing thresholds in a harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) after exposure to seismic airgun stimuli
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
125
,
4060
4070
.
25.
Mulsow
,
J.
,
Finneran
,
J. J.
, and
Houser
,
D. S.
(
2014
). “
Interaural differences in the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) auditory nerve response to jawphone stimuli
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
136
,
1402
1409
.
26.
Mulsow
,
J.
,
Finneran
,
J. J.
,
Houser
,
D. S.
, and
Burkard
,
R. F.
(
2016
). “
The effects of click and masker spectrum on the auditory brainstem response of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
140
,
2603
2613
.
27.
Pacini
,
A. F.
,
Nachtigall
,
P. E.
,
Kloepper
,
L. N.
,
Linnenschmidt
,
M.
,
Sogorb
,
A.
, and
Matias
,
S.
(
2010
). “
Audiogram of a formerly stranded long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas) measured using auditory evoked potentials
,”
J. Exp. Biol.
213
,
3138
3143
.
28.
Parker
,
D. J.
, and
Thornton
,
A. R.
(
1978a
). “
Frequency specific components of the cochlear nerve and brainstem evoked responses of the human auditory system
,”
Scand. Audiol.
7
,
53
60
.
29.
Parker
,
D. J.
, and
Thornton
,
A. R.
(
1978b
). “
Cochlear travelling wave velocities calculated from the derived components of the cochlear nerve and brainstem evoked responses of the human auditory system
,”
Scand. Audiol.
7
,
67
70
.
30.
Popov
,
V.
, and
Supin
,
A. Y.
(
1990
). “
Electrophysiological studies of hearing in some cetaceans and a manatee
,” in
Sensory Abilities in Cetaceans
, edited by
J. A.
Thomas
and
R. A.
Kastelein
(
Plenum Press
,
New York
), pp.
405
415
.
31.
Popov
,
V. V.
, and
Supin
,
A. Y.
(
2001
). “
Contribution of various frequency bands to ABR in dolphins
,”
Hear. Res.
151
,
250
260
.
32.
Popov
,
V. V.
,
Supin
,
A. Y.
,
Pletenko
,
M. G.
,
Tarakanov
,
M. B.
,
Klishin
,
V. O.
,
Bulgakova
,
T. N.
, and
Rosanova
,
E. I.
(
2007
). “
Audiogram variability in normal bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)
,”
Aquatic Mammal.
33
,
24
33
.
33.
Stapells
,
D. R.
, and
Picton
,
T. W.
(
1981
). “
Technical aspects of brainstem evoked potential audiometry using tones
,”
Ear Hear.
2
,
20
29
.
34.
Stapells
,
D. R.
,
Picton
,
T. W.
, and
Durieux-Smith
,
A.
(
1994
). “
Electrophysiologic measures of frequency-specific auditory function
,” in
Principles and Applications in Auditory Evoked Potentials
, edited by
J. T.
Jacobson
(
Allyn and Bacon
,
Boston, MA
), pp.
251
283
.
35.
Teas
,
D. C.
,
Eldredge
,
D. H.
, and
Davis
,
H.
(
1962
). “
Cochlear responses to acoustic transients: An interpretation of whole-nerve action potentials
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
34
,
1438
1459
.
36.
von Békésy
,
G.
(
1960
).
Experiments in Hearing
(
McGraw-Hill
,
New York
),
745
pp.
37.
Yuen
,
M. M. L.
,
Nachtigall
,
P. E.
,
Breese
,
M.
, and
Supin
,
A. Y.
(
2005
). “
Behavioral and auditory evoked potential audiograms of a false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens)
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
118
,
2688
2695
.
You do not currently have access to this content.