Indices of hearing in patients with central auditory pathology. II. Choice response time.

The response times of three groups of subjects with pathology of the auditory pathway, localized either to the eighth nerve or to the right or left temporal cortex, were compared on three psychoacoustic tasks. These tasks included detection, frequency discrimination and duration discrimination. Measurements were made at two stimulus frequencies, 500 and 2000 Hz, in combination with two durations, 50 and 300 ms. The results were compared to those obtained for normal hospitalized and non-hospitalized control subjects. All subjects, except those with acoustic neuroma, had age-corrected normal hearing. Statistically significant group differences were apparent in discrimination but not detection, indicating the importance of task demands for response time measures, especially in patients with cortical pathology. The outcomes were not related to neuropsychological measures of speed or accuracy, supporting the conclusion that the time for decision-making rather than motor function had been affected.