Environmental noise exposure degrades normal listening processes
Environmental noise exposure degrades normal listening processes
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DOI：
10.1038/ncomms1849
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发表时间：
2012-01
影响因子：
16.6
通讯作者：
Xiaoming Zhou;M. Merzenich
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Xiaoming Zhou;M. Merzenich
到目前为止，中等水平的环境噪音对成熟大脑的功能和生理影响，不引起明显的外周缺陷，在很大程度上仍然没有研究。在这里，我们表明，将成年大鼠暴露在65分贝的结构化噪音中，这明显低于普遍接受的安全水平标准，会导致行为障碍，并严重损害听觉皮层的功能。皮层对声输入处理的强烈退化与结构噪声的调制速率无关。每天10小时和每天24小时暴露的效果几乎相同。这些结果表明，在不直接影响听力灵敏度的条件下，环境暴露于结构化噪声中，可能会在皮层水平上对听觉系统产生实质性的负面影响。这些噪音被认为是“安全的”，在现代人类环境中经常存在。
To date, the functional and physiological impact on the mature brain of moderate-level environmental noises that do not cause noticeable peripheral deficits remains largely unstudied. Here we show that exposing adult rats to structured noise at a sound pressure level of 65 dB, which is markedly below the broadly accepted safety level standard, results in behavioural impairments and substantially impairs the function of the auditory cortex. The strong deterioration in cortical processing of acoustic inputs is independent of the modulation rates of structured noises. Almost equally strong effects result from 10-h daily versus 24-h daily exposure regimens. These results indicate that there can be substantial negative consequences for the auditory system documented at the cortical level, attributable to environmental exposure to structured noises delivered under conditions that do not directly impact hearing sensitivity. These noises are deemed to be 'safe' and are often present in modern human environments.