Hearing threshold shifts from prolonged exposure to noise in guinea pigs

Auditory thresholds were assessed in three guinea pigs with a conditioning procedure based on the positive reinforcement paradigm. Thereafter, the guinea pigs were exposed for 5 days to third octave band noise centred at 2 kHz at 100 dB SPL. Thresholds at 0.5, 2 and 4 kHz were controlled during the exposure and up to 120 days after exposure. After 6 h of exposure, the threshold shift at 4 kHz reached 40 dB and increased slowly to 45 dB by the fifth day. The quasi-asymptotic shift was less expressed at 2 kHz, where the initial threshold shift amounted to 20 dB and rose to 40 dB by the fifth day. Thresholds recovered in the time course of 5 days after exposure and a significant permanent threshold shift was present 120 days after exposure. It amounted to 35 dB at 4 kHz and to 20 dB at 2 kHz. Auditory thresholds were dependent upon the duration of the stimulus: the decrease in duration of a tone from 200 ms to 2 ms caused a rise in threshold of about 10 dB before as well as after the exposure. The effects of prolonged noise exposure upon guinea pigs are similar to those found in chinchillas with the exception of the permanent threshold shift, which is more marked in guinea pigs.