Neural Correlates of Signal-in-Noise Processing Improve Following Treatment with a Targeted Augmented Acoustic Environment: A Behavioral and Physiological Approach
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Tampa
Mentor Information
Joseph Walton
Description
A deficit in the ability to understand speech in noisy environments is a notable facet of age-related hearing loss (ARHL) and other auditory disorders stemming from declines in function of the auditory nervous systems. In addition, signal-in-noise (SiN) detection is a problem in acquired hearing loss and aging. We hypothesized that an augmented acoustic environment (AAE) comprised of tone bursts embedded in background noise of various levels will improve neural coding of sounds in noise via neural plasticity. To test the effect of this novel SiN-AAE, old mice were exposed over a 2-month period and then behavioral and physiological responses to a novel signal-in-noise stimuli were compared to those of an unexposed control group of similar ages. CBA/CaJ mice, aged 21-22 months, were exposed to SiN-AAE for 12 hours per day, for 2 months. Control mice were not exposed to SiN-AAE. The SiN-AAE simulated real-world listening in a noisy environment and consisted of a continuous Gaussian background noise at 50 and 65 dB SPL. 50 ms 16 kHz tone bursts were presented every 200 ms, at intensities of +3, +6, +9, and +12 dB SPL above the background. We assessed SiN detection behaviorally utilizing pre-pulse inhibition of the acoustic startle reflex, and physiologically utilizing extra-cellular electrophysiology recordings in the inferior colliculus. Exposure to SiN-AAE resulted in a frequency-generalizable behavioral SiN processing improvement. Additionally, SiN-AAE exposure resulted in improved SiN response characteristics in the inferior colliculus. Long-term exposure of this novel SiN-AAE improved encoding of tones-in-noise in aged mice.
Neural Correlates of Signal-in-Noise Processing Improve Following Treatment with a Targeted Augmented Acoustic Environment: A Behavioral and Physiological Approach
A deficit in the ability to understand speech in noisy environments is a notable facet of age-related hearing loss (ARHL) and other auditory disorders stemming from declines in function of the auditory nervous systems. In addition, signal-in-noise (SiN) detection is a problem in acquired hearing loss and aging. We hypothesized that an augmented acoustic environment (AAE) comprised of tone bursts embedded in background noise of various levels will improve neural coding of sounds in noise via neural plasticity. To test the effect of this novel SiN-AAE, old mice were exposed over a 2-month period and then behavioral and physiological responses to a novel signal-in-noise stimuli were compared to those of an unexposed control group of similar ages. CBA/CaJ mice, aged 21-22 months, were exposed to SiN-AAE for 12 hours per day, for 2 months. Control mice were not exposed to SiN-AAE. The SiN-AAE simulated real-world listening in a noisy environment and consisted of a continuous Gaussian background noise at 50 and 65 dB SPL. 50 ms 16 kHz tone bursts were presented every 200 ms, at intensities of +3, +6, +9, and +12 dB SPL above the background. We assessed SiN detection behaviorally utilizing pre-pulse inhibition of the acoustic startle reflex, and physiologically utilizing extra-cellular electrophysiology recordings in the inferior colliculus. Exposure to SiN-AAE resulted in a frequency-generalizable behavioral SiN processing improvement. Additionally, SiN-AAE exposure resulted in improved SiN response characteristics in the inferior colliculus. Long-term exposure of this novel SiN-AAE improved encoding of tones-in-noise in aged mice.
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Poster Presentation