title: Spectrum pattern resolution after noise exposure in a beluga whale, Delphinapterus leucas: Evoked potential study.
abstract: Temporary threshold shift (TTS) and the discrimination of spectrum patterns after fatiguing noise exposure (170 dB re 1 μPa, 10 min duration) was investigated in a beluga whale, Delphinapterus leucas, using the evoked potential technique. Thresholds were measured using rhythmic (1000/s) pip trains of varying levels and recording the rhythmic evoked responses. Discrimination of spectrum patterns was investigated using rippled-spectrum test stimuli of various levels and ripple densities, recording the rhythmic evoked responses to ripple phase reversals. Before noise exposure, the greatest responses to rippled-spectrum probes were evoked by stimuli with a low ripple density with a decrease in the response magnitude occurring with an increasing ripple density. After noise exposure, both a TTS and a reduction of the responses to rippled-spectrum probes appeared and recovered in parallel. The reduction of the responses to rippled-spectrum probes was maximal for high-magnitude responses at low ripple densities and was negligible for low-magnitude responses at high ripple densities. It is hypothesized that the impacts of fatiguing sounds are not limited by increased thresholds and decreased sensitivity results in reduced ability to discriminate fine spectral content with the greatest impact on the discrimination of spectrum content that may carry the most obvious information about stimulus properties.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, 33 Leninsky Prospect, 119071 Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: Vladimir V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Popov
authors.affiliation: Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, 33 Leninsky Prospect, 119071 Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: Dmitry I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Nechaev
authors.affiliation: Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, 33 Leninsky Prospect, 119071 Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: Evgenia V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Sysueva
authors.affiliation: Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, 33 Leninsky Prospect, 119071 Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: Viatcheslav V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Rozhnov
authors.affiliation: Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, 33 Leninsky Prospect, 119071 Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: Alexander Ya
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Supin
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000818:Animals; D001309:Auditory Threshold / Q000502:physiology*; D050643:Beluga Whale / Q000502:physiology*; D016057:Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D009622:Noise; D010897:Pitch Discrimination / Q000502:physiology*; D013016:Sound; D013018:Sound Spectrography