Remote Masking in the Absence of Intra-aural Muscles

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Abstract
To ascertain the rôle of the stapedial reflex in remote masking, remote and contralateral remote masking were studied on separate groups of listeners who had had their stapedius muscles excised surgically. In addition, separate groups of listeners who had audiometrically and otoscopically normal ears were used to obtain control data. The results of these studies show that neither remote nor contralateral remote masking depends upon the stapedial reflex; both, however, do vary with degree of hearing loss. In the case of remote masking, an orderly relation was found to exist between the amount of remote masking and the sensation level (SL) of the masker [rehearing levels (HL) at 1000 and 1500 cps]. This, along with exaggerated remote masking in cases of sensorineural loss, supports the earlier explanations of remote masking solely in terms of cochlear mechanics. For contralateral remote masking, the relationship between masking and hearing loss was not as orderly as that for remote masking. The absence of a systematic relationship between SL of the masker and onset or amount of contralateral remote masking suggests it to be a central rather than a peripheral phenomenon.

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