The influence of noise exposure on the parameters of a convolution model of the compound action potential

The influence of noise exposure on the parameters of a convolution model of the compound action potential (CAP) was examined. CAPs were recorded in normal-hearing gerbils and in gerbils exposed to a 117 dB SPL 8 kHz band of noise for various durations. The CAPs were fitted with an analytic CAP to obtain the parameters representing the number of nerve fibers (N), the probability density function [P(t)] from a population of nerve fibers, and the single-unit waveform [U(t)]. The results showed that the analytic CAP fitted the physiologic CAPs well with correlations of approximately 0.90. A subsequent analysis using hierarchical linear modeling quantified the change in the parameters as a function of both signal level and hearing threshold. The results showed that noise exposure caused some of the parameter-level functions to simply shift along the signal level axis in proportion to the amount of hearing loss, whereas others shifted along the signal level axis and steepened. Significant changes occurred in the U(t) parameters, but they were not related to hearing threshold. These results suggest that noise exposure alters the physiology underlying the CAP, some of which can be explained by a simple lack of gain, whereas others may not.