Dear Sirs,

On behalf of my co-authors, I would like to thank Dr de Ru and his colleagues for their valuable contribution. In our previous paper, we documented a low-frequency 30 dB reduction in auditory thresholds secondary to the contraction of the tensor tympani muscle. In humans, however, contraction of the stapedius muscle plays the major role in the acoustic reflex in response to high-energy sound stimuli, even if the co-activation of the tensor tympani muscle could theoretically render this attenuation process much more effective.