An experiment was designed to determine if, for equal SPL and power spectrum, the effects on hearing of high‐kurtosis noise exposures and a Gaussian noise exposure are different and the extent to which any differences measured in terms of audiometric and histological variables are frequency specific. Three groups of chinchillas with 10 animals/group were exposed for 5 days at 90 dB SPL to one of three types of noise, each with the same power spectrum. The impulsiveness, defined by the kurtosis, and the region of the spectrum from which the impulsive components of the noise were created differed for two of the noises, while the third was a continuous Gaussian noise. The results show that the most impulsive noise produced up to 20 dB greater permanent threshold shift at the high frequencies than did the Gaussian noise exposure. However, these audiometric results were difficult to reconcile with the pattern of sensory cell losses that showed statistically significant larger losses of outer hair cells for the impulsive exposure in the 0.25‐kHz region. When the impacts in a high‐kurtosis noise were created from the energy in the 1‐through 6‐kHz region of the spectrum, the audiometric profile of hearing loss was similar to that produced by the Gaussian noise; however, inner hair cell losses were significantly greater in the 4‐kHz octave band region of the cochlea.
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April 1993
April 01 1993
Audiometric and histological differences between the effects of continuous and impulsive noise exposures
Roger P. Hamernik;
Roger P. Hamernik
Auditory Research Laboratory, State University of New York, 107 Beaumont Hall, Plattsburgh, New York 12901
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William A. Ahroon;
William A. Ahroon
Auditory Research Laboratory, State University of New York, 107 Beaumont Hall, Plattsburgh, New York 12901
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Keng D. Hsueh;
Keng D. Hsueh
Auditory Research Laboratory, State University of New York, 107 Beaumont Hall, Plattsburgh, New York 12901
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Sheau‐Fang Lei;
Sheau‐Fang Lei
Auditory Research Laboratory, State University of New York, 107 Beaumont Hall, Plattsburgh, New York 12901
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Robert I. Davis
Robert I. Davis
Auditory Research Laboratory, State University of New York, 107 Beaumont Hall, Plattsburgh, New York 12901
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J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 93, 2088–2095 (1993)
Article history
Received:
June 20 1992
Accepted:
January 11 1993
Citation
Roger P. Hamernik, William A. Ahroon, Keng D. Hsueh, Sheau‐Fang Lei, Robert I. Davis; Audiometric and histological differences between the effects of continuous and impulsive noise exposures. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1 April 1993; 93 (4): 2088–2095. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.406695
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