STUDIES ABOUT TONALITY OF TINNITUS AURIUM

Abstract

1) The author discussed the tonality of tinnitus aurium, making the patient compare it with pure tone of audiometer at the intensity of 5-10db and indicate its frequencies and onomatop.The complaints of tinnitus indicating high tone, high frequencies like chirping of cicada or similar tones were the most frequent through the cases of all kinds of deafness and normal haring. But such tinnitus was complained the most frequently by the cases of perceptive deafness.The cases of conductive deafness did not complaine so often. The latter complained rather more it of middle frequencies. The cases of normal hearing and mixed deafness were situated among them.2) Between onomatop or metaphorical expression of tinnitus and the indicated audiometric freque ncies, there was a close relation. While the patients who indicated the low frequencies in 125-250cps about their tinnitus expressed it by onomatop with syllables ending in u or o, those who indicated the high frequencies in 3000-8000cpse xpressed with those ending in iThis relation was affirmed also by an experiment, making normaly hearing, conductively or perceptively deafend persons hear the audiometric tones and express them with onomatop.Next I observed onomatop of tinnitus by the sound spectrogram. It gave the results that the tones are concerned to high frequencies. Therefore I can presume, to some extent, the kind of deafness from the tonality of its tinnitus.3) Some cases show 2 or more different kinds of tinnitus in one same ear and sometimes different kind of it in each ear on one case. This suggests that tinnitus is origianted from many different sources.4) About the frequencies and onomatop of so-called subaudible tinnitus was recognized almost the same as above mentioned. This makes it supposed that the so-called subaudible tinnitus has a close relation the ordinary tinnitus.5) Frequencies which were indicated as those of tinnitus, were relatively similar to deafend frequencies throughout on both cases of perceptive and conductive deafness by means of audiograms. Perceptive deafness with tinnitus showed almost types of high tone deafness, but on the cases of conductive deafness it was not so constant as on those of the former.