Implementation of a fast method for measuring psychophysical tuning curves.

OBJECTIVE To implement a fast method for measuring psychophysical tuning curves (PTCs) for use in clinical applications, such as assessment of frequency selectivity and detection of dead regions in the cochlea. DESIGN The method is based on that described by Sek et al (2005) and has been implemented in software that can be run on a PC with a good-quality sound card. In addition to the main narrowband noise masker, a lowpass noise masker can be generated to prevent detection of a distortion band corresponding to the simple difference tone. RESULTS The software includes a routine for measuring the absolute threshold at the signal frequency and includes methods for estimating the frequency at the tip of the PTC. A PTC can typically be determined in about three minutes. A small amount of practice (two to three runs) may be required to achieve stable results. CONCLUSIONS The software implementation allows PTCs to be measured quickly without a requirement for specialised equipment.