Why are hearing thresholds in dB Sound Pressure Level (SPL) shaped as a curve?
• Why does Carharts Notch appear with otosclerosis? • Why do we have acoustic reflexes anyway? • Why do high frequencies stimulate the base of the cochlea and low frequencies stimulate the apex? • Why does noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) drop at 4000 Hz and improve at 8000 Hz? • Why does Menieres disease often initially present with a rising audiogram? • How does the asymmetrical traveling wave shape show itself with cochlear dead spots? • The Dichotic Digit Test – Does it Test What Audiologists Say it Tests?What Exactly Is The Occlusion Effect, and Why Does It Occur? The lay definition of the occlusion effect is that ones own voice sounds louder when ones ear is plugged. This is why hearing aids have vents. A more explicit reason for the occlusion effect is that low-frequency bone conducted sounds are louder for the plugged ear. Back in graduate school, audiologists learned that mass dominates the resonances in the lower frequencies and stiffness dominates in the higher frequencies.
