Monaural Frequency Discrimination In Subjects With Menière's Disease

Abstract

The described technique for measuring DLF gave group mean values on normal subjects comparable to the group mean values of studies by other authors on normal subjects. The group mean values for DLF in subjects with Menière's disease are substantially greater than the same values for normal subjects, and the same relationship is true for the standard deviations of the two groups. DLF in Menière's subjects is inversely related to stimulus intensity and shows the greatest separation from normal at the higher frequencies. Pitch discrimination (DL/F) × 100, and dispersion of results, (SD/F) x 100, show the lowest values at 4000 cps for the Menière's group as compared to 2000 cps for the normal group. This, when considered with the tendency for low tone threshold loss, would seem to implicate the upper middle and apical region of the cochlea as the site of greater involvement in Menière's disease. The frequency discrimination studies described in this paper are in no way a clinical test for Menière's disease.