Markus Rudolf Drexl

About

My background is in cochlear physiology, specialising in biophysical (otoacoustic emissions, evoked potentials) and psychophysical (tinnitus matching, hearing thresholds) measures of the mammalian inner ear, including, but not limited to, humans. I have more than 20 years experience with research involving a variety of topics, but the overarching topic was always a better understanding of how the innner ear works. I strongly believe that studying various organisms and their specialsisation to their individual soundscapes helps us to finally understand better how and why we humans hear (and don't hear) in the we do: barn owls and gerbils tought us how our hearing systems hears and analyses spatial sounds, birds helped us to understand the advantages of a multi-component middle ear.

Concerns over sound emitted from technical sources such as wind turbines in the low–frequency- (between about 20 and 250 Hz) and infrasound range (below 20 Hz) have been mounting over the last decade.

Human exposure to infrasound has been implicated in triggering several vague and occasionally debilitating symptoms, such as vertigo, anxiety, sleep disorders, or cardiac arrhythmia. Since emitted sound levels were occasionally found to be below hearing thresholds in the homes of complainants, it has been speculated that these emissions nevertheless can induce adverse effects on human health. This implies the processing of other sensory systems with presumably lower thresholds than the auditory system. For a thorough risk assessment of low-frequency- and infrasound emissions a better understanding of the nature of the sensory systems involved in the processing is required.

I am interested in how the inner ear processses low-frequency and infrasound and why it causes annoyance in a substantial proportion of the general population.

Publications

2025

Orellana, Carlos Andres Jurado; Grothe, Benedikt; Drexl, Markus Rudolf. (2025) Intense low-frequency sound transiently biases human sound lateralisation. PLOS ONE
Academic article
Baumann, Bonifaz; Voss, Andrej; Orellana, Carlos Andres Jurado; Grothe, Benedikt; Drexl, Markus Rudolf. (2025) On the potential sources of a low-frequency sound percept only a few can hear. BioRxiv
Academic article

2021

Lattenkamp, Ella Z; Nagy, Martina; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Vernes, Sonja C; Knörnschild, Mirjam; Wiegrebe, Lutz. (2021) Hearing sensitivity and amplitude coding in bats are differentially shaped by echolocation calls and social calls. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences
Academic article

2020

Luecke, Vivian Nancy; Buchwieser, Laura; Eulenburg, Peter zu; Marquart, Torsten; Drexl, Markus Rudolf. (2020) Ocular and cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials elicited by air-conducted, low-frequency sound. Journal of Vestibular Research
Academic article

2019

Fischl, Matthew J; Ueberfuhr, Margarete A; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Pagella, Sara; Sinclair, James; Alexandrova, Olga. (2019) Urocortin 3 signalling in the auditory brainstem aids recovery of hearing after reversible noise-induced threshold shift. Journal of Physiology
Academic article
Ueberfuhr, Margarete A; Drexl, Markus Rudolf. (2019) Slow oscillatory changes of DPOAE magnitude and phase after exposure to intense low-frequency sounds. Journal of Neurophysiology
Academic article

2018

Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Krause, Eike; Gürkov, Robert. (2018) A Comparison of Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emission Properties in Ménière's Disease Patients and Normal-Hearing Participants. Ear and Hearing
Academic article

2017

Jeanson, Lena; Wiegrebe, Lutz; Gürkov, Robert; Krause, Eike; Drexl, Markus Rudolf. (2017) Aftereffects of Intense Low-Frequency Sound on Spontaneous Otoacoustic Emissions: Effect of Frequency and Level. Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology
Academic article
Ueberfuhr, Margarete A; Wiegrebe, Lutz; Krause, Eike; Gürkov, Robert; Drexl, Markus Rudolf. (2017) Tinnitus in Normal-Hearing Participants after Exposure to Intense Low-Frequency Sound and in Ménière's Disease Patients. Frontiers in Neurology
Academic article
Ueberfuhr, Margarete A; Braun, Amalia; Wiegrebe, Lutz; Grothe, Benedikt; Drexl, Markus Rudolf. (2017) Modulation of auditory percepts by transcutaneous electrical stimulation. Hearing Research
Academic article

2016

Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Wiegrebe, Lutz; Otto, Larissa; Marquart, Torsten; Gürkov, Robert; Krause, Eike. (2016) Low-frequency sound exposure causes reversible long-term changes of cochlear transfer characteristics. Hearing Research
Academic article
Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Krause, Eike; Gürkov, Robert; Wiegrebe, Lutz. (2016) Responses of the Human Inner Ear to Low-Frequency Sound. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology
Academic article

2015

Kugler, Kathrin; Wiegrebe, Lutz; Gürkov, Robert; Krause, Eike; Drexl, Markus Rudolf. (2015) Concurrent Acoustic Activation of the Medial Olivocochlear System Modifies the After-Effects of Intense Low-Frequency Sound on the Human Inner Ear. Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology
Academic article
Weddell, Thomas D; Yarin, Yury M; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Russell, Ian J; Elliott, Stephen J; Lukashkin, Andrei N. (2015) Cochlear excitation by the near-field component during stimulation through the partially occluded round window. AIP Conference Proceedings
Academic article

2014

Kantner, Claudia; Hapflmeier, Alexander; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Gürkov, Robert. (2014) The effects of rise/fall time and plateau time on ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials. European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology
Academic article
Kugler, Kathrin; Grothe, Benedikt; Kössl, Manfred; Gurkov, Robert; Krause, Eike; Drexl, Markus Rudolf. (2014) Low-frequency sound affects active micromechanics in the human inner ear. Royal Society Open Science
Academic article
Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Ueberfuhr, Margarete A; Weddell, Thomas D; Lukashkin, Andrei N; Wiegrebe, Lutz; Krause, Eike. (2014) Multiple indices of the 'bounce' phenomenon obtained from the same human ears. Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology
Academic article
Weddell, Thomas D; Yarin, Yury M; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Russell, Ian J; Elliott, Stephen J; Lukashkin, Andrei N. (2014) A novel mechanism of cochlear excitation during simultaneous stimulation and pressure relief through the round window. Journal of the Royal Society Interface
Academic article

2013

Krause, Eike; Mayerhofer, Andreas; Gürkov, Robert; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Braun, Thomas; Olzowy, Berhard. (2013) Effects of acoustic stimuli used for vestibular evoked myogenic potential studies on the cochlear function. Otology & Neurotology
Academic article

2012

Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Gürkov, Robert; Krause, Eike. (2012) Low-frequency modulated quadratic and cubic distortion product otoacoustic emissions in humans. Hearing Research
Academic article

2008

Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Lagarde, Marcia M Mellado; Zuo, Jian; Lukashkin, Andrei N; Russell, Ian. (2008) The role of prestin in the generation of electrically evoked otoacoustic emissions in mice. Journal of Neurophysiology
Academic article
Lagarde, Marcia M Mellado; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Lukashkin, Andrei N; Zuo, Jian; Russell, Ian. (2008) Prestin's role in cochlear frequency tuning and transmission of mechanical responses to neural excitation. Current Biology
Academic article
Lagarde, Marcia M Mellado; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Lukashkina, Victoria A; Lukashkin, Andrei N; Russell, Ian J. (2008) Outer hair cell somatic, not hair bundle, motility is the basis of the cochlear amplifier. Nature Neuroscience
Academic article

2005

Wittekindt, Anna; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Kössl, Manfred. (2005) Cochlear sensitivity in the lesser spear-nosed bat, Phyllostomus discolor. Journal of Comparative Physiology A. Sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology
Academic article

2004

Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Kössl, Manfred; Henke, Julia. (2004) Isoflurane increases amplitude and incidence of evoked and spontaneous otoacoustic emissions. Hearing Research
Academic article

2003

Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Kössl, Manfred. (2003) Sound-evoked efferent effects on cochlear mechanics of the mustached bat. Hearing Research
Academic article
Russell, Ian; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Foeller, Elisabeth; Vater, Marianne; Kössl, Manfred. (2003) Synchronization of a nonlinear oscillator: processing the cf component of the echo-response signal in the cochlea of the mustached bat. Journal of Neuroscience
Academic article
Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Faulstich, Michael; Stebut, Boris von; Radtke-Schuller, Susanne; Kössl, Manfred. (2003) Distortion product otoacoustic emissions and auditory evoked potentials in the hedgehog tenrec, Echinops telfairi. Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology
Academic article
Russell, Ian; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Foeller, Elisabeth; Vater, Marianne; Kössl, Manfred. (2003) The development of a single frequency place in the mammalian cochlea: the cochlear resonance in the mustached bat Pteronotus parnellii. Journal of Neuroscience
Academic article
Kössl, Manfred; Foeller, Elisabeth; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Vater, Marianne; Mora, Emanuel; Coro, Frank. (2003) Postnatal development of cochlear function in the mustached bat, Pteronotus parnellii. Journal of Neurophysiology
Academic article

2002

Pibal, Iris; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Kössl, Manfred. (2002) Level dependence of optimal stimulus level difference for evoking DPOAEs in the gerbil. Hearing Research
Academic article

Journal publications

Orellana, Carlos Andres Jurado; Grothe, Benedikt; Drexl, Markus Rudolf. (2025) Intense low-frequency sound transiently biases human sound lateralisation. PLOS ONE
Academic article
Baumann, Bonifaz; Voss, Andrej; Orellana, Carlos Andres Jurado; Grothe, Benedikt; Drexl, Markus Rudolf. (2025) On the potential sources of a low-frequency sound percept only a few can hear. BioRxiv
Academic article
Lattenkamp, Ella Z; Nagy, Martina; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Vernes, Sonja C; Knörnschild, Mirjam; Wiegrebe, Lutz. (2021) Hearing sensitivity and amplitude coding in bats are differentially shaped by echolocation calls and social calls. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences
Academic article
Luecke, Vivian Nancy; Buchwieser, Laura; Eulenburg, Peter zu; Marquart, Torsten; Drexl, Markus Rudolf. (2020) Ocular and cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials elicited by air-conducted, low-frequency sound. Journal of Vestibular Research
Academic article
Fischl, Matthew J; Ueberfuhr, Margarete A; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Pagella, Sara; Sinclair, James; Alexandrova, Olga. (2019) Urocortin 3 signalling in the auditory brainstem aids recovery of hearing after reversible noise-induced threshold shift. Journal of Physiology
Academic article
Ueberfuhr, Margarete A; Drexl, Markus Rudolf. (2019) Slow oscillatory changes of DPOAE magnitude and phase after exposure to intense low-frequency sounds. Journal of Neurophysiology
Academic article
Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Krause, Eike; Gürkov, Robert. (2018) A Comparison of Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emission Properties in Ménière's Disease Patients and Normal-Hearing Participants. Ear and Hearing
Academic article
Jeanson, Lena; Wiegrebe, Lutz; Gürkov, Robert; Krause, Eike; Drexl, Markus Rudolf. (2017) Aftereffects of Intense Low-Frequency Sound on Spontaneous Otoacoustic Emissions: Effect of Frequency and Level. Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology
Academic article
Ueberfuhr, Margarete A; Wiegrebe, Lutz; Krause, Eike; Gürkov, Robert; Drexl, Markus Rudolf. (2017) Tinnitus in Normal-Hearing Participants after Exposure to Intense Low-Frequency Sound and in Ménière's Disease Patients. Frontiers in Neurology
Academic article
Ueberfuhr, Margarete A; Braun, Amalia; Wiegrebe, Lutz; Grothe, Benedikt; Drexl, Markus Rudolf. (2017) Modulation of auditory percepts by transcutaneous electrical stimulation. Hearing Research
Academic article
Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Wiegrebe, Lutz; Otto, Larissa; Marquart, Torsten; Gürkov, Robert; Krause, Eike. (2016) Low-frequency sound exposure causes reversible long-term changes of cochlear transfer characteristics. Hearing Research
Academic article
Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Krause, Eike; Gürkov, Robert; Wiegrebe, Lutz. (2016) Responses of the Human Inner Ear to Low-Frequency Sound. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology
Academic article
Kugler, Kathrin; Wiegrebe, Lutz; Gürkov, Robert; Krause, Eike; Drexl, Markus Rudolf. (2015) Concurrent Acoustic Activation of the Medial Olivocochlear System Modifies the After-Effects of Intense Low-Frequency Sound on the Human Inner Ear. Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology
Academic article
Weddell, Thomas D; Yarin, Yury M; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Russell, Ian J; Elliott, Stephen J; Lukashkin, Andrei N. (2015) Cochlear excitation by the near-field component during stimulation through the partially occluded round window. AIP Conference Proceedings
Academic article
Kantner, Claudia; Hapflmeier, Alexander; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Gürkov, Robert. (2014) The effects of rise/fall time and plateau time on ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials. European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology
Academic article
Kugler, Kathrin; Grothe, Benedikt; Kössl, Manfred; Gurkov, Robert; Krause, Eike; Drexl, Markus Rudolf. (2014) Low-frequency sound affects active micromechanics in the human inner ear. Royal Society Open Science
Academic article
Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Ueberfuhr, Margarete A; Weddell, Thomas D; Lukashkin, Andrei N; Wiegrebe, Lutz; Krause, Eike. (2014) Multiple indices of the 'bounce' phenomenon obtained from the same human ears. Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology
Academic article
Weddell, Thomas D; Yarin, Yury M; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Russell, Ian J; Elliott, Stephen J; Lukashkin, Andrei N. (2014) A novel mechanism of cochlear excitation during simultaneous stimulation and pressure relief through the round window. Journal of the Royal Society Interface
Academic article
Krause, Eike; Mayerhofer, Andreas; Gürkov, Robert; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Braun, Thomas; Olzowy, Berhard. (2013) Effects of acoustic stimuli used for vestibular evoked myogenic potential studies on the cochlear function. Otology & Neurotology
Academic article
Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Gürkov, Robert; Krause, Eike. (2012) Low-frequency modulated quadratic and cubic distortion product otoacoustic emissions in humans. Hearing Research
Academic article
Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Lagarde, Marcia M Mellado; Zuo, Jian; Lukashkin, Andrei N; Russell, Ian. (2008) The role of prestin in the generation of electrically evoked otoacoustic emissions in mice. Journal of Neurophysiology
Academic article
Lagarde, Marcia M Mellado; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Lukashkin, Andrei N; Zuo, Jian; Russell, Ian. (2008) Prestin's role in cochlear frequency tuning and transmission of mechanical responses to neural excitation. Current Biology
Academic article
Lagarde, Marcia M Mellado; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Lukashkina, Victoria A; Lukashkin, Andrei N; Russell, Ian J. (2008) Outer hair cell somatic, not hair bundle, motility is the basis of the cochlear amplifier. Nature Neuroscience
Academic article
Wittekindt, Anna; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Kössl, Manfred. (2005) Cochlear sensitivity in the lesser spear-nosed bat, Phyllostomus discolor. Journal of Comparative Physiology A. Sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology
Academic article
Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Kössl, Manfred; Henke, Julia. (2004) Isoflurane increases amplitude and incidence of evoked and spontaneous otoacoustic emissions. Hearing Research
Academic article
Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Kössl, Manfred. (2003) Sound-evoked efferent effects on cochlear mechanics of the mustached bat. Hearing Research
Academic article
Russell, Ian; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Foeller, Elisabeth; Vater, Marianne; Kössl, Manfred. (2003) Synchronization of a nonlinear oscillator: processing the cf component of the echo-response signal in the cochlea of the mustached bat. Journal of Neuroscience
Academic article
Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Faulstich, Michael; Stebut, Boris von; Radtke-Schuller, Susanne; Kössl, Manfred. (2003) Distortion product otoacoustic emissions and auditory evoked potentials in the hedgehog tenrec, Echinops telfairi. Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology
Academic article
Russell, Ian; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Foeller, Elisabeth; Vater, Marianne; Kössl, Manfred. (2003) The development of a single frequency place in the mammalian cochlea: the cochlear resonance in the mustached bat Pteronotus parnellii. Journal of Neuroscience
Academic article
Kössl, Manfred; Foeller, Elisabeth; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Vater, Marianne; Mora, Emanuel; Coro, Frank. (2003) Postnatal development of cochlear function in the mustached bat, Pteronotus parnellii. Journal of Neurophysiology
Academic article
Pibal, Iris; Drexl, Markus Rudolf; Kössl, Manfred. (2002) Level dependence of optimal stimulus level difference for evoking DPOAEs in the gerbil. Hearing Research
Academic article

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