Primary auditory neurons: nonlinear responses altered without changes in sharp tuning.

Two-tone suppression as well as distortion product responses in mammalian auditory neurons were altered by exposure to short, high intensity tones in the frequency region of the suppressing or primary tones. These changes occurred without significant alteration of the single neurons' tuning curves. The findings support the notion that two-tone suppression and distortion product responses are a function of the integrity of cochlear regions remote from the final transduction site.