Distribution of VIII nerve excitation by pure tones, derived by electrical stimulation and acoustic masking

VIII nerve compound action potentials evoked by electrical stimulation are decomposed in series of pure-tone derived potentials using masking. These potentials are in turn decomposed in a series of contributions from various frequency bands by adding high-pass masking noises. The amplitudes of the derived signals are thought to be proportional to the number of fibres activated by the masking acoustical stimulations. Thus the density of nerve fibres stimulated along the basilar membrane by pure tones as a function of frequency and intensity can be estimated.