Abstract
A recent survey lists more than 100 papers utilizing the auditory evoked potential (AEP) recording technique for studying hearing in fish. More than 90% of these AEP-studies were published after Kenyon et al. introduced a non-invasive electrophysiological approach in 1998 allowing rapid evaluation of hearing and repeated testing of animals. Applying and further developing the AEP-technique enabled the investigation of a wide range of scientific questions. First, it was possible to describe and compare basic hearing abilities in a large number of species. Subsequently, the ontogenetic development of hearing as well as the influence of various accessory hearing structures (Weberian ossicles and swimbladder) were studied. The technique was also successfully utilized to analyze the temporal resolution ability of the auditory system. The AEP-technique is suitable for studying threshold shifts after exposure to (TTS) and in the presence of (masking) various noise types (white, ambient, and anthropogenic). Comparison of AEP-audiograms with sound spectra, along with the analysis of AEPs in response to conspecific sounds, enabled us to assess the ability to communicate acoustically in general, and during ontogeny and in the presence of noise in particular. Finally, various factors potentially influencing hearing such as temperature, albinism, and cave dwelling were investigated. [Work supported by the FWF.]
Highlights
In the modern era, interest in the questions of hearing by fishes began in 1903 (Parker 1903) and reached a peak in its first phase with the work of von Frisch (1938) and his students
Summary and Conclusions about the relation between behavioral and auditory evoked potentials (AEP) measures of hearing. Both behavioral and AEP measures of hearing exist for only seven fish species, even through about 60 species have been studied behaviorally, and approximately 100 species have been investigated using AEP measures
One generalization that arises from some of the comparisons above is that AEP measures tend to produce thresholds that are higher than the behavioral values at low frequencies, and produce lower thresholds than the behavioral thresholds at the higher frequencies
Summary
Interest in the questions of hearing by fishes began in 1903 (Parker 1903) and reached a peak in its first phase with the work of von Frisch (1938) and his students (e.g., von Frisch and Stetter 1932; von Frisch and Dijkgraaf 1935). Behavioral techniques have declined in popularity due, for example, to the time required to determine a complete audiogram, the interest in rapid measures applicable to studies of temporary threshold shift, and in longitudinal studies on development. For these and other reasons, electrophysiological methods have become more popular than behavioral studies
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