Sleep and active cochlear micromechanical properties in human subjects.

In this paper the effect of sleep on the cochlea is studied by transiently evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs). Amplitude increases considerably (e.g., 4 dB) and the effect of a contralateral noise on the TEOAEs decreases during the night. These modifications can be related to sleep, although there is no link to electroencephalographic sleep stage. During sleep onset, the effect of contralateral noise disappears: this could correspond to a functional rest of the auditory pathway during that period.