Auditory brainstem response (ABR), a noninvasive electrophysiological method for the study of hearing ability of fishes

Abstract

Over the past 100+ years several methods have been used to study hearing ability of fish. Behavioral (psychophysical) methods including food reward, barrier crossing, and electrical shock conditioning are used to train fish to respond to sound. Invasive-type of electrophysiological methods include single unit and microphonics recordings. In 1996, my laboratory developed auditory brainstem response (ABR) recording technique, an electrophysiological far-field recording method, to record acoustically evoked brainstem potentials from fish. This noninvasive method overcomes the major limitations of traditional behavioral (prolonged training period; erratic behavioral response) and electrophysiological (invasive surgery) methods. The ABR recording can be achieved easily with assemblage of conventional electrophysiological devices with the aid of computer programs. Since the development of this noninvasive electrophysiological recording method, it has been widely adopted by many laboratories around the world to study fish hearing. The role of gasbladder in hearing enhancement, the ontogenetic development of hearing ability of embryo and larval fish, the impacts of noise exposure on threshold shifts, the effect of aging on hearing all have been understood with the use of ABR method. This quick pace of achievement cannot be obtained without the use of this noninvasive recording technique. [Work supported by NIH, NOHR, IMLS.]