Psychoacoustic methods in diagnosis of central auditory disorders in patients with sensorineural hearing loss

Abstract

Assessment of the condition of auditory analyzer central part functioning has been performed using of psychoacoustic tests that characterize human auditory system resolution, frequency differential response, binaural interaction and the ability to detect sound signal against the noise background. 20 patients with chronic bilateral symmetric sensorineural hearing loss at the age of 31 through 80 years old and 10 patients at the age of 20 through 25 years with normal hearing have been examined. Low informative value of the measurement of frequency difference thresholds and high importance of the gap detection test in diagnosing of central auditory disorders in patients with hearing loss have been noted. The studies on detection of a sound signal against the noise background made it possible to suggest a new test for assessment of central parts of auditory analyzer – the measurement of the useful signal threshold shift under the conditions of simultaneous presentation of tonal interference. Significantly greater signal threshold shifts against the noise background have been revealed in the patients with sensorineural hearing loss accompanied by impaired binaural interaction than in the patients with peripheral hearing loss and normal hearing.