OAE and ABR Exam Questions and Answers
with Verified Solutions | Latest Updated 2026
otoacoustic emissions - Sounds given off by the inner ear (outer
hair cells)
when responding to a sound
- hair cells in the inner ear that respond to
sound
by vibrating
- vibration produces a very quiet sound
that
echoes back into the middle ear (sound
that is
measured)
2 types of otoacoustic emissions spontaneous and evoked
spontaneous OAE produced without a stimulus
- Occur in 50% of the population, more
often in
females
- Difficult to measure, and little clinical
significance
evoked OAE produced with a stimulus
3 types of evoked OAE - transient
- stimulus frequency
- distortion poduct
, stimulus frequency OAE - most difficult to measure and research
- present pure tone in ear canal and
examine
sound in canal
- Emission is the same frequency as pure
tone and
is much lower in intensity
transient evoked OAE - Present a click stimulus and record
sound level in
the ear canal with a microphone
- Maximum displacement of basilar
membrane in
basal region
- amplitude measure over time
- first measured
clinical application of transient - Sensitive to injury/damage of outer hair
evoked OAE cells
- echo will be missing and only originate
from
apical region if measured on damaged hair
cells
distortion product OAE - most widely used in clinical application
- Identifies function of outer hair cells
- not a measure of hearing threshold, but
can
correlate to hearing outside of the normal
range
with Verified Solutions | Latest Updated 2026
otoacoustic emissions - Sounds given off by the inner ear (outer
hair cells)
when responding to a sound
- hair cells in the inner ear that respond to
sound
by vibrating
- vibration produces a very quiet sound
that
echoes back into the middle ear (sound
that is
measured)
2 types of otoacoustic emissions spontaneous and evoked
spontaneous OAE produced without a stimulus
- Occur in 50% of the population, more
often in
females
- Difficult to measure, and little clinical
significance
evoked OAE produced with a stimulus
3 types of evoked OAE - transient
- stimulus frequency
- distortion poduct
, stimulus frequency OAE - most difficult to measure and research
- present pure tone in ear canal and
examine
sound in canal
- Emission is the same frequency as pure
tone and
is much lower in intensity
transient evoked OAE - Present a click stimulus and record
sound level in
the ear canal with a microphone
- Maximum displacement of basilar
membrane in
basal region
- amplitude measure over time
- first measured
clinical application of transient - Sensitive to injury/damage of outer hair
evoked OAE cells
- echo will be missing and only originate
from
apical region if measured on damaged hair
cells
distortion product OAE - most widely used in clinical application
- Identifies function of outer hair cells
- not a measure of hearing threshold, but
can
correlate to hearing outside of the normal
range
