The importance of "temporal pattern" in traumatic impulse noise exposures

Abstract

The equal energy hypothesis (EEH) was evaluated for impulse noise. Specifically, the experiments evaluated the importance of the temporal distribution of impulses; the trading relation between the number of impulses and peak level and the difference between continuous and impulse noise. Monaural chinchillas were exposed to one of seven conditions. Their hearing was evaluated before, immediately after, and 30 days after the exposure. Hair cell damage was reported in the form of a cochleogram. The experiments show that the EEH is more appropriate for low-level impulse (135-dB peak); for equal amounts of energy, 150-dB impulses produce more hearing loss and hair cell damage than 135-dB impulses; for equal amounts of energy, impulses presented in rapid bursts cause less damage than impulses presented at ``1/s'' and 50 µs. Pairs of impulses presented at ``1/s'' produce the largest amount of damage. The results are discussed in terms of implications for the EEH.

Publisher

Acoustical Society of America

Publication Date

7-1-1991

Publication Title

Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

Department

Neuroscience

Document Type

Article

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.402361

Language

English

Format

text

Link to Full Text

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