The applicability of the equal energy hypothesis (EEH) to impact noise exposures was studied using chinchillas. Hearing thresholds were estimated by recording the evoked potentials from a chronic electrode implanted in the inferior colliculus. The animals were exposed to broadband impacts of 200-ms duration. The study was carried out in two parts. In experiment I, six exposure levels (107, 113, 119, 125, 131, and 137 dB SPL) and three repetition rates (4/s, 1/s and 1/4 s) were employed. In the second experiment, the total duration of the exposure as well as the total energy were kept constant by trading level and rate. Results indicate that hearing loss resulting from exposure to impact noise does not conform to the predictions of the EEH. The permanent threshold shift as well as the hair cell loss are more or less equal across the lower peak exposure levels. However, both the hearing loss and the hair cell damage increase for exposures with higher peak levels. Furthermore, hearing loss and cochlear damage are dependent upon the rate of exposure. Thus the amount of hearing loss and hair cell damage appears to depend on the interaction of several factors including peak level rate, and the susceptibility of the animal.
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March 1991
March 01 1991
Impact noise: The importance of level, duration, and repetition rate
Donald Henderson;
Donald Henderson
Hearing Research Laboratory, Department of Communicative Disorders & Sciences, 215 Parker Hall, SUNY at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14214
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Malini Subramaniam;
Malini Subramaniam
Hearing Research Laboratory, Department of Communicative Disorders & Sciences, 215 Parker Hall, SUNY at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14214
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Michael Anne Gratton;
Michael Anne Gratton
Hearing Research Laboratory, Department of Communicative Disorders & Sciences, 215 Parker Hall, SUNY at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14214
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Samuel S. Saunders
Samuel S. Saunders
Hearing Research Laboratory, Department of Communicative Disorders & Sciences, 215 Parker Hall, SUNY at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14214
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J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 89, 1350–1357 (1991)
Article history
Received:
May 05 1990
Accepted:
November 05 1990
Citation
Donald Henderson, Malini Subramaniam, Michael Anne Gratton, Samuel S. Saunders; Impact noise: The importance of level, duration, and repetition rate. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1 March 1991; 89 (3): 1350–1357. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.400658
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