THE EMERGENCE AND DISAPPEARANCE OF ONE SUBJECTS SPONTANEOUS OTOACOUSTIC EMISSIONS

Objective: This paper documents the appearance and disappearance of mu ltiple, intense spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAEs) in one subje ct who previously had no measurable SOAEs. Design: A subject, who had no spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAEs) from 4/24/93 to 5/24/93, displayed 10 SOAEs on 5/26/93 (day 1). The SOAEs of the subject were t racked for 342 days. Results: On day 85, the SOAEs had all vanished. T hereafter, no stable SOAEs appeared. However, on days 94 and 99 one SO AE was intermittently measured in the left ear. Conclusions: These dat a seem to indicate that some SOAEs may be caused by reversible disturb ances of active transduction mechanisms, and that not all SOAEs are he ritable. Because the subject had been exposed to loud music on the nig ht preceding the emergence of the SOAEs, the putative cause of the SOA Es may have been exposure to loud sound.