Estimating the Audiogram Using Multiple Auditory Steady-State Responses

Multiple auditory steady-state responses were evoked by eight tonal stimuli (four per ear), with each stimulus simultaneously modulated in both amplitude and frequency. The modulation frequencies varied from 80 to 95 Hz and the carrier frequencies were 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz. For air conduction, the differences between physiologic thresholds for these mixed-modulation (MM) stimuli and behavioral thresholds for pure tones in 31 adult subjects with a sensorineural hearing impairment and 14 adult subjects with normal hearing were 14 ± 11, 5 ± 9, 5 ± 9, and 9 ± 10 dB (correlation coefficients .85, .94, .95, and .95) for the 500-, 1000-, 2000-, and 4000-Hz carrier frequencies, respectively. Similar results were obtained in subjects with simulated conductive hearing losses. Responses to stimuli presented through a forehead bone conductor showed physiologic-behavioral threshold differences of 22 ± 8, 14 ± 5, 5 ± 8, and 5 ± 10 dB for the 500-, 1000-, 2000-, and 4000-Hz carrier frequencies, respectively. These responses were attenuated by white noise presented concurrently through the bone conductor.