title: A novel behavioural approach to detecting tinnitus in the guinea pig.
abstract: Tinnitus, the perception of sound in the absence of an external stimulus, is a particularly challenging condition to demonstrate in animals. In any animal model, objective confirmation of tinnitus is essential before we can study the neural changes that produce it. A gap detection method, based on prepulse inhibition of the whole-body startle reflex, is often used as a behavioural test for tinnitus in rodents. However, in the guinea pig the whole-body startle reflex is subject to rapid habituation and hence is not an ideal behavioural measure. By contrast, in this species the Preyer or pinna reflex is a very reliable indicator of the startle response and is much less subject to habituation. We have developed a novel adaptation of the gap detection paradigm, which uses the Preyer reflex to measure the startle response, rather than whole-body movement. Using this method, we have demonstrated changes in gap detection, in guinea pigs where tinnitus had been induced by the administration of a high dose of salicylate. Our data indicate that the Preyer reflex gap detection method is a reliable test for tinnitus in guinea pigs.
authors.affiliation: MRC Institute of Hearing Research, University Park, Nottingham, UK. joel@ihr.mrc.ac.uk
authors.forename: Joel I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Berger
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Coomber
authors.forename: Trevor M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Shackleton
authors.forename: Alan R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.forename: Mark N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Wallace
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D008297:Male; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000502:physiology*; D014012:Tinnitus / Q000175:diagnosis*