A Computational Modeling Study of the Effects of Acoustic Trauma on the Dorsal Cochlear Nucleus

The dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) is the most complex part of the cochlear nucleus and has been shown to be involved in sound localization and in some auditory perceptual phenomenon, e.g., tinnitus. The responses of DCN neurons have been modeled in several studies, e.g., Zheng and Voigt 2006 [1]. They simulated both DCN principal cell response maps (RMs) and notch-noise responses. In this study, the same DCN model is used to study the effects of acoustic trauma on DCN neurons using the auditory periphery model of Zilany and Bruce 2006 [2]. This model is capable of modeling the effects of hearing loss. The RM properties of DCN model principal cells are compared to recordings of Ma and Young 2006 [3] from unanesthetized, decerebrated cats following exposure to trauma-producing acoustic noise. By manipulating the DCN model parameters, similar tone responses following acoustic trauma can be simulated. DCN model neurons show RMs with either no response or only tail responses, depending on the degree of acoustic trauma. This study may help to determine the source of different tail responses, which has not been studied in previous physiological experiments. It also suggests that similar responses following acoustic trauma will be found in the DCN of other animals, e.g., gerbil.