The proposed research is directed towards a better understanding of subjective tinnitus. Computerized psychophysical procedures are described that should provide an objective description of the individual's tinnitus, its loudness and spectrum. This objective description of a person's tinnitus will provide the basis for an experimental attack on the question of whether subjective tinnitus is subject to auditory masking or if the apparent masking reported by many investigators is some other process, such as distraction, fatigue (inhibition), suppression, or loudness judgments. The fact that the objective description of the subject's tinnitus will be answers to these questions about the masking of tinnitus.
NIH ExPorter
NIH ExPorter