Bekesy audiometry

Bé·ké·sy au·di·om·e·try

(bā'kā-shē),

audiometry in which the subject controls increases and decreases in intensity at a fixed frequency or, more unusually, as the frequency of the stimulus is gradually changed so that the subject traces back and forth across the threshold of hearing.

Synonym(s): automatic audiometry

Békésy audiometry

[bek′əsē]

Etymology: George von Békésy, Hungarian-American physicist and Nobel laureate, 1899-1972

a type of hearing test in which the subject controls the intensity of the stimulus by pressing a button while listening to a pure tone whose frequency slowly moves through the entire audible range. The intensity diminishes as long as the button is pressed. When the intensity is too low for the subject to hear the tone, the button is released and the intensity begins to increase. When the subject again hears the tone, the button is again pressed, yielding a zigzag tracing. Continuous and interrupted tones are used, and the tracings of the two are compared. The test may be used to differentiate between hearing losses of cochlear and neural origins.

Békésy,

Georg von, Hungarian biophysicist in U.S. and Nobel laureate, 1899-1972.

Békésy audiometer - an automatic audiometer.

Békésy audiometry - automatic audiometry.