FREQUENCY DISCRIMINATION IN LISTENERS WITH SENSORINEURAL HEARING-LOSS

The difference limen for frequency (DLF) was measured in both ears of 34 hearing-impaired subjects at the octave and interoctave frequencies between 500 and 4000 Hz. In agreement with previous studies of DLF in the hearing impaired, there was only a moderate correlation (0.49) be tween DLF/F and hearing threshold level (HTL). Correlation and regress ion analyses at the individual frequencies, however, indicated that DL F/F is much more closely related to HTL at 1000 Hz and above than it i s below 1000 Hz. Comparison of the right-left ear differences in DLF a nd HTL revealed some large DLF differences where there was no HTL diff erence and some large HTL differences where no DLF difference was foun d. The lack of a strong relationship between DLF and HTL asymmetries i ndicates that the structures that limit the DLF and the HTL may, at th e same frequency, be damaged differently in each ear of the same subje ct.