The Peripheral Vascular Response in Audiometric Testing

Abstract

Variations in peripheral blood flow in response to auditory stimuli with pure tones were studied in 71 subjects. Adults and children with normal and impaired hearing and newborns were included. A vasoconstric-tive response was obtained in all adults and most children with normal hearing at a mean and median threshold of 85–90 dB, respectively. Adults and children with hearing loss revealed a vasoconstrictive response less often and at a higher median threshold. The thresholds, however, showed such a great dispersion as to greatly limit the practical value of this method in audiometric testing of adults and children. The vasoconstrictive response occurred only infrequently in newborns.