Abstract
The present study is aimed at further defining the potentiating interaction between electrocutaneous and acoustic stimulation of the middle-ear muscle response. A previous study by Ruth et al. (1978) investigated the temporal properties of this facilitory process by varying the location in time of a subreflex threshold electrocutaneous stimulus with respect to an acoustic. As predicted the greatest amount of potentiation was found to occur when the two signals were simultaneous and overlapping. This present study was designed to evaluate the effect of varying levels of subreflex threshold electrocutaneous stimulation on the magnitude and persistance of the facilitated response. Results indicate that amplitude of the acoustic reflex response increases as the level of the electrocutaneous stimulation is increased from threshold of sensation up to threshold of discomfort. Evidence of acoustic reflex sensitization was observed as long as ten seconds following an electrocutaneous stimulation. Possible neural substrates for these interactions will be discussed.
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