Auditory evoked potential measurements with cetaceans

Abstract

Auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) allow researchers to measure the hearing abilities of animals that would be difficult or impossible to train for behavioral measurements of hearing. The hearing abilities of live-stranded cetaceans and wild dolphins can only be made with AEP techniques. In these situations, time with the animal is often restricted to an hour or less, and there is often little control over the acoustic environment in which the tests are performed. AEP measurements may be made while the animals are in air or in shallow pools. For cetaceans in air, sounds are typically presented with a suction cup jawphone. For cetaceans in water, sounds may be presented in a direct field (with the transducer located at some distance from the test subject) or with a jawphone. In each of these situations it is important to understand how thresholds derived from AEP measurements compare with behavioral hearing measurements. Examples of AEP measurements from wild and live-stranded cetaceans are presented to illustrate their usefulness and the constraints under which these measurements must be made. AEP measurements from bottlenose dolphins in air and in water are also compared with their behavioral audiograms.