[Directional hearing, temporal order, auditory pattern: new methods of symptomatological study of the central auditory pathways. Physiological data]

Abstract

New tonal audiometry tests: directional hearing, temporal order and hearing pattern were experimented in 50 healthy subjects with normal hearing. These tests involve the ability to integrate and elaborate complex tonal stimuli at the central pathway level, in addition to the perception of tonal stimuli. The method and apparatus employed are described. In spite of the complexity of the latter, the tests are rapid and easily understood by the subject. They are thus suitable for extension from the laboratory into clinical practice. Their use has shown that the central routes display a variety of capabilities at different levels, of both dynamic and static type; the former are evaluated by the directional hearing test, the latter by the other two tests.