substituted for one of the frequencies used with the control subjects for all subjects tone pips were presented at intensities of 30 db sl 36 db sl 42 db sl 48 db sl and 54 db sl the peak amplitudes of the n100 component were then measured and plotted as a function of stimulus intensity a linear regression was calculated and its slope used to characterize the intensity dependence of the n100 component see fig1 the resulting data from a subset of the tinnitus group i e those subjects whose tinnitus pitch was near 4 khz show significantly higher intensity dependence of the n100 compared to controls see fig1 furthermore comparison of the n100 intensity dependence of the tinnitus and control subjects showed that the n100 responses from tinnitus patients to 2 khz tones was significantly less intensity dependent i e smaller slopes than those of non tinnitus controls wilcoxon mann whitney u test p lt 0 05 in contrast responses from the tinnitus group were slightly more intensity dependent to their tinnitus frequency tones which had a mean of 4 2 khz than responses to the 4 khz from the non tinnitus control subjects audiograms were taken from all of the tinnitus subjects and 11 of the control subjects two of the tinnitus subjects had mild and one had moderate hearing loss at their tinnitus frequency the hearing loss observed at the tinnitus frequency makes it possible that the stronger intensity dependence observed in the responses of tinnitus patients to tinnitus frequency tones.