Abstract: The frequency selectivity of the auditory system can be identifiedby the tuning curve and its Q value. The present study, using the para-digm of simultaneous masking, measured both the psychophysical and thephysiological tuning curves i? 10 subjects with normal hearing and 5subjects with degenerative hearing loss. To facilitate comparison, thetwo kinds of tuning curves were obtained by using the same acousticstimuli, i. e. 500Hz and 4000 Hz pip tone set at the same sensation level.The electrophysiological data adopted to determine the physiologicaltuning curve was the amplitude of P~6-SN_(10) complex of brainstemresponse. Results showed that (1) there was no significant difference betweenthe Q values of these two kinds of tuning curves, (2) at 4000Hz, the Qvalues of the two curyes in the degenerative group were significantly?ess than those of the normal group. It may be concluded that withproper selection of acoustic stimuli and electrophysiological data, thephysiological tuning curve can reflect the frequency selectivity andchanges of the auditory system with approximately equal-value, thesame sensitivity and the same frequency-specificity as the psychophy-sical tuning curve does.

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