Electrical Acoustical Response to Click Stimulation After Section of the Eighth Nerve

Abstract

The source of the neural components of the electrical response to a click at the round window is investigated in cats. A method of severing the eighth nerve while leaving the blood supply to the cochlea intact is described. Both components of the neural response to click, the N1 and N2, are still recorded at the round window after section of the eighth nerve. The latency of N1 and N2 is not significantly changed after section of the eighth nerve. A new slow negative potential appears in the electric response to a click at the round window after section of the eighth nerve. An increase of the amplitude of the action potentials recorded on the peripheral end of the eighth nerve is observed following section of the nerve.