Fundamentals of Identification of Sensori-neural Hearing Loss

Abstract

Modern audiological diagnosis is based for the most part upon the recognition of certain characteristic patterns of response which have been found to result from the application of various test procedures. The SISI test, the types l-IV Bekesy audiograms and the various tests of loudness recruitment are cases in point. Nevertheless the fundamental principles underlying these tests are ill understood. These can be simply expressed in terms analogous to well known physiological phenomena. Thus the terms auditory fatigue and auditory adaptation which are frequently used synonymously can be shown to be entirely physiologically distinct and separate responses of the receptor which in turn have their auditory subjective counterparts. Likewise it can be shown that the on-effect of the end organ response plays a dominant role in the phenomenon of loudness recruitment.Recognition of these basic physiological features is important not only for the proper interpretation of existing audiological test procedures but also for the attention that must be given to small but vital points of detail in their design.