A reconsideration of sound calibration in the mouse

M. Pearce, C. P. Richter, M. A. Cheatham*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

30 Scopus citations

Abstract

Although it is traditional to perform sound calibrations in anesthetized animals by placing a probe-tube microphone near the tympanic membrane, these measurements are inaccurate at high stimulus frequencies where hearing must be quantified in the mouse. Hence, our motivation to develop another approach using the mouse ear canal as a coupler. Results of real-ear-canal calibrations indicate that an average calibration can be used to estimate sound pressure levels in the three mouse strains tested. Similar estimates were also obtained using a tubing coupler, whose volume was comparable to that of the ear canal, thereby offering a simpler alternative. In addition, real-head calibrations were also performed to provide a procedure that can be used in situations where the ear is not dissected, as in measurements of the auditory brainstem response. Calibrations for open, rather than closed, sound-delivery systems were also evaluated using a modified method of substitution.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)57-67
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Neuroscience Methods
Volume106
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 30 2001

Funding

Work supported in part by grants #DC00089 to P. Dallos and #DC02764 to L. Madison from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, the National Institutes of Health. Comments from Peter Dallos and Jonathan Siegel, as well as three anonymous reviewers, are gratefully acknowledged.

Keywords

  • Coupler
  • Ear canal
  • Method of substitution
  • Mouse
  • Probe tube
  • Sound calibration

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience

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