A psychoacoustic evaluation of the count up ability test and its clinical application

• Published in: OTOLOGIA FUKUOKA Vol. 41; no. 4; pp. 630 - 644
• Main Author: YAMASAKI, Keizo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: JIBI TO RINSHO KAI 20.07.1995
• Subjects: SOA (stimulus onset asynchorony; 刺激提示速度); 数え上げ検査; 時間因子
• ISSN: 0447-7227; 2185-1034
• DOI: 10.11334/jibi1954.41.4_630

Test results suggest that the new “testing by sound series counting”(TSSC) method can differentiate retrocochlear deafness (due to cerebrovascular disease) from sensorineural hearing loss and also measure temporal lobe damage. TSSC counts short sounds within a stimulus sound series. Research confirms that the number evaluated decreases when the rate of presentation accelerates. The current study consisted of 10 study patients, 6 with cerebrovascular disease and 4 with sensorineural hearing loss. The TSSC involved 4 separate series of gradually increasing sound rates, with the first series set at one stimulus per second (1000ms/SOA). The subjects were instructed to respond to the number of stimuli presented. A correct response by the control subjects of at least 90% at 4 selected rates was slower than 6 times per second (167, 250, 500 and 1000ms/SOA). The limiting rate, the rate at which correct answers began to markedly decrease, was observed in (83%) of the 6 patients with cerebrovascular disease, and only one demonstrated correct answers that were comparable to the control group. This patient showed obscure findings of temporal lobe damage, even in computed tomography. The responses from the 4 patients with a sensorineural hearing loss were at least 90% correct at rates as fast as 167ms/SOA, which was similar to the normal subjects.