Effects of Sound Conditioning on Wind Tunnel Noise-induced Hearing Loss and Related Ultra Structure Changes in Cochlea
WU Wei
HAN Hao-lun
WANG Fang-yuan
QU Chang-bei
WANG Gang
WANG Hong-nan
LI Baowei
YU Meng
MEMG Ling-zhao
WANG Pu-jie
YU Xue-jun
WU Da-wei
Niu Cong-min
LIU Gang
Abstract： Objective To investigate the effects of sound conditioning on wind tunnel noise-induced hearing loss and related cochlear ultra structure changes. Method One hundred healthy guinea pigs were randomly selected to receive sound-conditioning before exposure to wind tunnel noise, or to be exposed to wind tunnel noise without sound conditioning. Thresholds of auditory brainstem response (ABR) were measured at baseline, after sound conditioning and following exposure to wind tunnel noise. Cochlear morphological changes were examined under a scanning electron microscope. Susceptible and non-susceptible individuals to wind tunnel noise-induced hearing loss were identified based upon post-exposure ABR threshold changes. Result Sound-conditioned animals showed less ABR threshold elevation in general following subsequent exposure to wind tunnel noise, compared with those without conditioning, with less severe inner and outer hair cell damage in the cochlea. Hair cell damage in“susceptible”individuals appeared heavier than that in“non-susceptible”individuals in both sound conditioned and non-conditioned animals. Conclusion Sound conditioning can effectively reduce hearing loss and hair cell damage induced by wind tunnel noise exposure, although there appear to be significant inter-individual differ-ences among susceptible and non-susceptible individuals under the same noise exposure condition.
Keywords：Wind tunnel noiseSound conditioningSusceptibilityHearing lossScanning electron microscope
Publication Date：2013-01-01
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：6( 288-292,324 )