Recovery of thresholds and temporal integration in adult chickens after high-level 525-Hz pure-tone exposure

Abstract

Three adult, female chickens, previously trained to detect pure tones using a positive reinforcement paradigm, were exposed to pure tones at 525 Hz at 120-dB sound-pressure level for 48 h. Immediately after exposure, pure-tone thresholds were elevated between 10 and 56 dB compared to pre-exposure values. The configuration of the initial hearing loss was essentially flat between 500 and 2000 Hz, with slightly less loss at lower and higher frequencies. Over the course of 100 to 600 h, depending on subject and test frequency, thresholds returned to preexposure levels. The slopes of the threshold-duration functions measured shortly after exposure were shallower than normal, but returned to the normal slope of approximately 3 dB per doubling of duration as hearing loss resolved to less than 15 to 20 dB. The cochleas from additional chickens examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and fluorescence microscopy between 0 and 1512 h post-exposure showed extensive damage to the tectorial membrane over the middle two-thirds of the cochlea, with mild to moderate hair cell loss in the region of the cochlea associated with the exposure frequency.