John J. Guinan, Jr.,
PhD
Massachusetts Eye and Ear
Senior Scientist, Eaton-Peabody Laboratories
Harvard Medical School
Professor of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery
john_guinan@meei.harvard.edu
For investigator inquiries only
About My Research
Dr. John Guinan’s primary research interest is in the area of auditory physiology. In particular, he studies cochlear mechanics, the effects of the olivocochlear efferent pathways of the cochlea, and how they affect human psychophysical performance. He is also interested in the methodology for clinical measurement of vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs).
Dr. Guinan's work has provided a new concept of how the output of the cochlea is produced by the mechanical motions within the cochlea: the inner hair cell stereocilia are driven by several separate cochlear mechanical vibration patterns.
Publications powered by Harvard Catalyst Profiles
- The Rhode non-linearity and its impact on cochlear mechanics. J Acoust Soc Am. 2023 02; 153(2):R3.
- Measurements From Ears With Endolymphatic Hydrops and 2-Hydroxypropyl-Beta-Cyclodextrin Provide Evidence That Loudness Recruitment Can Have a Cochlear Origin. Front Surg. 2021; 8:687490.
- Optimized Diagnostic Approach to Patients Suspected of Superior Semicircular Canal Dehiscence. Ear Hear. 2021 Sep/Oct; 42(5):1295-1305.
- Altered mapping of sound frequency to cochlear place in ears with endolymphatic hydrops provide insight into the pitch anomaly of diplacusis. Sci Rep. 2021 05 17; 11(1):10380.
- The interplay of organ-of-Corti vibrational modes, not tectorial- membrane resonance, sets outer-hair-cell stereocilia phase to produce cochlear amplification. Hear Res. 2020 09 15; 395:108040.
- Anatomy of the Human Osseous Spiral Lamina and Cochlear Partition Bridge: Relevance for Cochlear Partition Motion. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2020 04; 21(2):171-182.
- The Spatial Origins of Cochlear Amplification Assessed by Stimulus-Frequency Otoacoustic Emissions. Biophys J. 2020 03 10; 118(5):1183-1195.
- Predicting Development of Bilateral Menière's Disease Based on cVEMP Threshold and Tuning. Otol Neurotol. 2019 12; 40(10):1346-1352.
- Normalizing cVEMPs: Which Method Is the Most Effective? Ear Hear. 2019 Jul/Aug; 40(4):878-886.
- Cochlear partition anatomy and motion in humans differ from the classic view of mammals. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 07 09; 116(28):13977-13982.
- Cervical Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials in Menière's Disease: A Comparison of Response Metrics. Otol Neurotol. 2019 03; 40(3):e215-e224.
- Toward Optimizing cVEMP: 2,000-Hz Tone Bursts Improve the Detection of Superior Canal Dehiscence. Audiol Neurootol. 2018; 23(6):335-344.
- Cochlear compound action potentials from high-level tone bursts originate from wide cochlear regions that are offset toward the most sensitive cochlear region. J Neurophysiol. 2019 03 01; 121(3):1018-1033.
- Toward Optimizing VEMP: Calculating VEMP Inhibition Depth With a Generic Template. Ear Hear. 2018 Nov/Dec; 39(6):1199-1206.
- Audiometric and cVEMP Thresholds Show Little Correlation With Symptoms in Superior Semicircular Canal Dehiscence Syndrome. Otol Neurotol. 2018 10; 39(9):1153-1162.
- Auditory Attention Reduced Ear-Canal Noise in Humans by Reducing Subject Motion, Not by Medial Olivocochlear Efferent Inhibition: Implications for Measuring Otoacoustic Emissions During a Behavioral Task. Front Syst Neurosci. 2018; 12:42.
- Toward Optimizing Cervical Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials (cVEMP): Combining Air-Bone Gap and cVEMP Thresholds to Improve Diagnosis of Superior Canal Dehiscence. Otol Neurotol. 2018 02; 39(2):212-220.
- Toward Optimizing Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials: Normalization Reduces the Need for Strong Neck Muscle Contraction. Audiol Neurootol. 2017; 22(4-5):282-291.
- Olivocochlear efferents: Their action, effects, measurement and uses, and the impact of the new conception of cochlear mechanical responses. Hear Res. 2018 05; 362:38-47.
- Non-tip auditory-nerve responses that are suppressed by low-frequency bias tones originate from reticular lamina motion. Hear Res. 2018 02; 358:1-9.
- Efferent inhibition strength is a physiological correlate of hyperacusis in children with autism spectrum disorder. J Neurophysiol. 2017 08 01; 118(2):1164-1172.
- Hearing at speech frequencies is different from what we thought. J Physiol. 2017 07 01; 595(13):4123-4124.
- Serial cVEMP Testing is Sensitive to Disease Progression in Ménière Patients. Otol Neurotol. 2016 12; 37(10):1614-1619.
- Electrically Evoked Medial Olivocochlear Efferent Effects on Stimulus Frequency Otoacoustic Emissions in Guinea Pigs. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2017 Feb; 18(1):153-163.
- Low-frequency bias tone suppression of auditory-nerve responses to low-level clicks and tones. Hear Res. 2016 11; 341:66-78.
- Increasing the Stimulation Rate Reduces cVEMP Testing Time by More Than Half With No Significant Difference in Threshold. Otol Neurotol. 2016 08; 37(7):933-6.
- Stimulus Frequency Otoacoustic Emission Delays and Generating Mechanisms in Guinea Pigs, Chinchillas, and Simulations. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2015 Dec; 16(6):679-94.
- Medial olivocochlear efferent reflex inhibition of human cochlear nerve responses. Hear Res. 2016 Mar; 333:216-224.
- Evaluating Inhibition of Motoneuron Firing From Electromyogram Data to Assess Vestibular Output Using Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials. Ear Hear. 2015 Sep-Oct; 36(5):591-604.
- Otoacoustic-emission-based medial-olivocochlear reflex assays for humans. J Acoust Soc Am. 2014 Nov; 136(5):2697-713.
- Normalization reduces intersubject variability in cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials. Otol Neurotol. 2014 Sep; 35(8):e222-7.
- Olivocochlear efferent function: issues regarding methods and the interpretation of results. Front Syst Neurosci. 2014; 8:142.
- Medial olivocochlear efferent effects on auditory responses. J Acoust Soc Am. 2014 Apr; 135(4):2383.
- The auditory nerve overlapped waveform (ANOW) originates in the cochlear apex. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2014 Jun; 15(3):395-411.
- New insights into cochlear amplification. Biophys J. 2013 Aug 20; 105(4):839-40.
- Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials in patients with superior semicircular canal dehiscence. Otol Neurotol. 2013 Feb; 34(2):360-7.
- A new auditory threshold estimation technique for low frequencies: proof of concept. Ear Hear. 2013 Jan-Feb; 34(1):42-51.
- How are inner hair cells stimulated? Evidence for multiple mechanical drives. Hear Res. 2012 Oct; 292(1-2):35-50.
- Progress in cochlear physiology after Békésy. Hear Res. 2012 Nov; 293(1-2):12-20.
- Frequency tuning of medial-olivocochlear-efferent acoustic reflexes in humans as functions of probe frequency. J Neurophysiol. 2012 Mar; 107(6):1598-611.
- On cochlear impedances and the miscomputation of power gain. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2011 Dec; 12(6):671-6.
- Cochlear efferent innervation and function. Curr Opin Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2010 Oct; 18(5):447-53.
- Otoacoustic estimation of cochlear tuning: validation in the chinchilla. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2010 Sep; 11(3):343-65.
- Acoustic stimulation of human medial olivocochlear efferents reduces stimulus-frequency and click-evoked otoacoustic emission delays: Implications for cochlear filter bandwidths. Hear Res. 2010 Aug; 267(1-2):36-45.
- Human medial olivocochlear reflex: effects as functions of contralateral, ipsilateral, and bilateral elicitor bandwidths. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2009 Sep; 10(3):459-70.
- Reflex control of the human inner ear: a half-octave offset in medial efferent feedback that is consistent with an efferent role in the control of masking. J Neurophysiol. 2009 Mar; 101(3):1394-406.
- Medial olivocochlear efferent inhibition of basilar-membrane responses to clicks: evidence for two modes of cochlear mechanical excitation. J Acoust Soc Am. 2008 Aug; 124(2):1080-92.
- Measurement of the distribution of medial olivocochlear acoustic reflex strengths across normal-hearing individuals via otoacoustic emissions. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2007 Dec; 8(4):484-96.
- Allen-Fahey and related experiments support the predominance of cochlear slow-wave otoacoustic emissions. J Acoust Soc Am. 2007 Mar; 121(3):1564-75.
- Cochlear traveling-wave amplification, suppression, and beamforming probed using noninvasive calibration of intracochlear distortion sources. J Acoust Soc Am. 2007 Feb; 121(2):1003-16.
- Olivocochlear efferents: anatomy, physiology, function, and the measurement of efferent effects in humans. Ear Hear. 2006 Dec; 27(6):589-607.
- Efferent-mediated control of basilar membrane motion. J Physiol. 2006 Oct 01; 576(Pt 1):49-54.
- Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMP) can detect asymptomatic saccular hydrops. Laryngoscope. 2006 Jun; 116(6):987-92.
- Time-course of the human medial olivocochlear reflex. J Acoust Soc Am. 2006 May; 119(5 Pt 1):2889-904.
- Vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) in patients with Ménière's disease with drop attacks. Laryngoscope. 2006 May; 116(5):776-9.
- Central auditory pathways mediating the rat middle ear muscle reflexes. Anat Rec A Discov Mol Cell Evol Biol. 2006 Apr; 288(4):358-69.
- Medial-olivocochlear-efferent inhibition of the first peak of auditory-nerve responses: evidence for a new motion within the cochlea. J Acoust Soc Am. 2005 Oct; 118(4):2421-33.
- Medial olivocochlear reflex interneurons are located in the posteroventral cochlear nucleus: a kainic acid lesion study in guinea pigs. J Comp Neurol. 2005 Jul 11; 487(4):345-60.
- Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials versus vestibular test battery in patients with Meniere's disease. Otol Neurotol. 2004 Nov; 25(6):981-6.
- Otoacoustic emissions without somatic motility: can stereocilia mechanics drive the mammalian cochlea? J Acoust Soc Am. 2004 Sep; 116(3):1649-55.
- Short-term sound temporal envelope characteristics determine multisecond time patterns of activity in human auditory cortex as shown by fMRI. J Neurophysiol. 2005 Jan; 93(1):210-22.
- Time-frequency analysis of auditory-nerve-fiber and basilar-membrane click responses reveal glide irregularities and non-characteristic-frequency skirts. J Acoust Soc Am. 2004 Jul; 116(1):405-16.
- Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials show altered tuning in patients with Ménière's disease. Otol Neurotol. 2004 May; 25(3):333-8.
- Responses of medial olivocochlear neurons. Specifying the central pathways of the medial olivocochlear reflex. Exp Brain Res. 2003 Dec; 153(4):491-8.
- Medial olivocochlear efferent reflex in humans: otoacoustic emission (OAE) measurement issues and the advantages of stimulus frequency OAEs. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2003 Dec; 4(4):521-40.
- Stimulus-frequency-emission group delay: a test of coherent reflection filtering and a window on cochlear tuning. J Acoust Soc Am. 2003 May; 113(5):2762-72.
- Separate mechanical processes underlie fast and slow effects of medial olivocochlear efferent activity. J Physiol. 2003 Apr 01; 548(Pt 1):307-12.
- Revised estimates of human cochlear tuning from otoacoustic and behavioral measurements. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002 Mar 05; 99(5):3318-23.
- Medial efferent effects on auditory-nerve responses to tail-frequency tones II: alteration of phase. J Acoust Soc Am. 2000 Aug; 108(2):664-78.
- Auditory-nerve-fiber responses to high-level clicks: interference patterns indicate that excitation is due to the combination of multiple drives. J Acoust Soc Am. 2000 May; 107(5 Pt 1):2615-30.
- Lateralized tinnitus studied with functional magnetic resonance imaging: abnormal inferior colliculus activation. J Neurophysiol. 2000 Feb; 83(2):1058-72.
- Medial efferent effects on auditory-nerve responses to tail-frequency tones. I. Rate reduction. J Acoust Soc Am. 1999 Aug; 106(2):857-69.
- Motoneuron axon distribution in the cat stapedius muscle. Hear Res. 1999 Jul; 133(1-2):139-48.
- Evoked otoacoustic emissions arise by two fundamentally different mechanisms: a taxonomy for mammalian OAEs. J Acoust Soc Am. 1999 Feb; 105(2 Pt 1):782-98.
- Feedback control of the auditory periphery: anti-masking effects of middle ear muscles vs. olivocochlear efferents. J Commun Disord. 1998 Nov-Dec; 31(6):471-82; quiz 483; 553.
- Growth rate of simultaneous masking in cat auditory-nerve fibers: relationship to the growth of basilar-membrane motion and the origin of two-tone suppression. J Acoust Soc Am. 1997 Dec; 102(6):3564-75.
- Effects of stapedius-muscle contractions on the masking of auditory-nerve responses. J Acoust Soc Am. 1997 Dec; 102(6):3576-86.
- Sound-evoked activity in primary afferent neurons of a mammalian vestibular system. Am J Otol. 1997 May; 18(3):355-60.
- Medial efferent inhibition produces the largest equivalent attenuations at moderate to high sound levels in cat auditory-nerve fibers. J Acoust Soc Am. 1996 Sep; 100(3):1680-90.
- The ipsilaterally evoked olivocochlear reflex causes rapid adaptation of the 2f1-f2 distortion product otoacoustic emission. J Acoust Soc Am. 1996 Jun; 99(6):3572-84.
- Generators of the brainstem auditory evoked potential in cat. II. Correlating lesion sites with waveform changes. Hear Res. 1996 Apr; 93(1-2):28-51.
- Generators of the brainstem auditory evoked potential in cat. I. An experimental approach to their identification. Hear Res. 1996 Apr; 93(1-2):1-27.
- Olivocochlear reflex assays: effects of contralateral sound on compound action potentials versus ear-canal distortion products. J Acoust Soc Am. 1996 Jan; 99(1):500-7.
- Spontaneous activity and frequency selectivity of acoustically responsive vestibular afferents in the cat. J Neurophysiol. 1995 Oct; 74(4):1563-72.
- Acoustically responsive fibers in the vestibular nerve of the cat. J Neurosci. 1994 Oct; 14(10):6058-70.
- Influence of efferent stimulation on acoustically responsive vestibular afferents in the cat. J Neurosci. 1994 Oct; 14(10):6071-83.
- Acoustic reflex frequency selectivity in single stapedius motoneurons of the cat. J Neurophysiol. 1992 Sep; 68(3):807-17.
- Signal processing in brainstem auditory neurons which receive giant endings (calyces of Held) in the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body of the cat. Hear Res. 1990 Nov; 49(1-3):321-34.
- Intracellularly labeled stapedius-motoneuron cell bodies in the cat are spatially organized according to their physiologic responses. J Comp Neurol. 1989 Nov 15; 289(3):401-15.
- Brainstem facial-motor pathways from two distinct groups of stapedius motoneurons in the cat. J Comp Neurol. 1989 Sep 01; 287(1):134-44.
- Effects of electrical stimulation of efferent olivocochlear neurons on cat auditory-nerve fibers. III. Tuning curves and thresholds at CF. Hear Res. 1988 Dec; 37(1):29-45.
- Anatomical and functional segregation in the stapedius motoneuron pool of the cat. J Neurophysiol. 1988 Sep; 60(3):1160-80.
- Effects of electrical stimulation of efferent olivocochlear neurons on cat auditory-nerve fibers. II. Spontaneous rate. Hear Res. 1988 May; 33(2):115-27.
- Effects of electrical stimulation of efferent olivocochlear neurons on cat auditory-nerve fibers. I. Rate-level functions. Hear Res. 1988 May; 33(2):97-113.
- The recruitment order of stapedius motoneurons in the acoustic reflex varies with sound laterality. Brain Res. 1987 Nov 10; 425(2):372-5.
- Effects of electrical stimulation of medial olivocochlear neurons on ipsilateral and contralateral cochlear responses. Hear Res. 1987; 29(2-3):179-94.
- Asymmetries in the acoustic reflexes of the cat stapedius muscle. Hear Res. 1987; 26(1):1-10.
- Single unit clues to cochlear mechanisms. Hear Res. 1986; 22:171-82.
- Effect of efferent neural activity on cochlear mechanics. Scand Audiol Suppl. 1986; 25:53-62.
- Number and distribution of stapedius motoneurons in cats. J Comp Neurol. 1985 Feb 01; 232(1):43-54.
- Topographic organization of the olivocochlear projections from the lateral and medial zones of the superior olivary complex. J Comp Neurol. 1984 Jun 10; 226(1):21-7.
- Differential olivocochlear projections from lateral versus medial zones of the superior olivary complex. J Comp Neurol. 1983 Dec 10; 221(3):358-70.
- Effects of crossed-olivocochlear-bundle stimulation on cat auditory nerve fiber responses to tones. J Acoust Soc Am. 1983 Jul; 74(1):115-23.
- The decay of end-plate currents in neostigmine-treated frog muscle blocked by acetylcholine or tubocurarine. J Physiol. 1980 Aug; 305:345-55.
- Efferent innervation of the organ of corti: two separate systems. Brain Res. 1979 Sep 07; 173(1):152-5.
- Single auditory units in the superior olivary complex. I: Responses to sounds and classifications based on physiological properties. Intern J Neuroscience. 1972; 4:101-120.
- Single auditory units in the superior olivary complex. II: Tonotopic organization and locations of unit categories. Intern J Neuroscience. 1972; 4:147-166.
- Middle-ear characteristics of anesthetized cats. J Acoust Soc Am. 1967 May; 41(5):1237-61.
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