Effects of section of the medial efferent tracts (crossed and uncrossed) on cochlear frequency selectivity.

The cochlear innervation of guinea pigs was sectioned midway between the midline and the external side of the cochlear nucleus, in a rostrocaudal direction at the level of the floor of the fourth ventricle, to study the effects of medial efferent pathways on cochlear frequency selectivity estimated with tuning curves of single auditory nerve fibers. Single-unit tuning curves were affected by this type of efferent sectioning. Thus, the ipsi-lateral efferent system seems to be involved, through a tonic action, in the mechanisms responsible for high frequency cochlea selectivity.