Adaptation and the masking of tinnitus

The effect of adaptation on the masking of tinnitus was investigated. Six patients with tinnitus performed two 5-min tracking tasks, each replicated six times. The first task examined the masking of tinnitus by tracking the intensity of a pure tone required to mask the tinnitus. The second task examined adaptation of a suprathreshold tone by tracking the intensity of a pure tone required for constant loudness. For 3 patients, the change required for constant loudness did not differ from the change required for constant maskability. For 3 patients, however, these two changes were different. Possible implications of these results for determining the locus of tinnitus and for the use of tinnitus maskers are discussed.