ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL INDEXES OF SELECTIVE AUDITORY ATTENTION IN SUBJECTS WITH AND WITHOUT TINNITUS

The present investigation was conducted in an attempt to determine whe ther selective auditory attention abilities differed between normal su bjects and subjects with bothersome tinnitus. Subjects were 37 adults with tinnitus and high-frequency hearing loss (not affecting threshold s at 500 and 1000 Hz) and 15 subjects who were audiometrically and oto logically normal. Results suggested that an electrophysiological index of early selective auditory attention (i.e., the negative difference wave, Nd) was of greater magnitude in tinnitus patients. Also, the cor tical N1 component occurred significantly later in the presence of sel ective attention in tinnitus subjects only. Results of this investigat ion may support the view that early selective auditory attention in su bjects with bothersome tinnitus differs from that of normal subjects.