Abstract
People are increasingly being exposed to environmental noise from traffic, media and other sources that falls within and outside legal limits. Although such environmental noise is known to cause stress in the auditory system, it is still generally considered to be harmless. This complacency may be misplaced: even in the absence of cochlear damage, new findings suggest that environmental noise may progressively degrade hearing through alterations in the way sound is represented in the adult auditory cortex.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$189.00 per year
only $15.75 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Clark, W. W. Hearing: the effects of noise. Otolaryngol. Head Neck Surg. 106, 669–676 (1992).
American Academy of Audiology. Preventing noise-induced occupational hearing loss (position statement) [online], (AAA, 2003).
Liberman, M. C. & Kiang, N. Y. Acoustic trauma in cats. Cochlear pathology and auditory-nerve activity. Acta Otolaryngol. Suppl. 358, 1–63 (1978).
Wang, Y., Hirose, K. & Liberman, M. C. Dynamics of noise-induced cellular injury and repair in the mouse cochlea. J. Assoc. Res. Otolaryngol. 3, 248–268 (2002).
Syka, J. Plastic changes in the central auditory system after hearing loss, restoration of function, and during learning. Physiol. Rev. 82, 601–636 (2002).
Goldstein, M. H. & Kiang, N. Y.-S. Synchrony of neural activity in electric responses evoked by transient acoustic stimuli. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 30, 107–114 (1958).
Scholl, B. & Wehr, M. Disruption of balanced cortical excitation and inhibition by acoustic trauma. J. Neurophysiol. 100, 646–656 (2008).
Browne, C. J., Morley, J. W. & Parsons, C. H. Tracking the expression of excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission-related proteins and neuroplasticity markers after noise induced hearing loss. PLoS ONE 7, e33272 (2012).
Godfrey, D. A. et al. Amino acid concentrations in the hamster central auditory system and long-term effects of intense tone exposure. J. Neurosci. Res. 90, 2214–2224 (2012).
Brozoski, T., Odintsov, B. & Bauer, C. γ-aminobutyric acid and glutamic acid levels in the auditory pathway of rats with chronic tinnitus: a direct determination using high resolution point-resolved proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-MRS). Front. Syst. Neurosci. 6, 9 (2012).
Qiu, C., Salvi, R., Ding, D. & Burkard, R. Inner hair cell loss leads to enhanced response amplitudes in auditory cortex of unanesthetized chinchillas: evidence for increased system gain. Hear. Res. 139, 153–171 (2000).
Salvi, R. J., Wang, J. & Ding, D. Auditory plasticity and hyperactivity following cochlear damage. Hear Res. 147, 261–274 (2000).
Wang, J., Ding, D. & Salvi, R. J. Functional reorganization in chinchilla inferior colliculus associated with chronic and acute cochlear damage. Hear. Res. 168, 238–249 (2002).
Caspary, D. M., Ling, L., Turner, J. G. & Hughes, L. F. Inhibitory neurotransmission, plasticity and aging in the mammalian central auditory system. J. Exp. Biol. 211, 1781–1791 (2008).
Pujol, R. & Puel, J. L. Excitotoxicity, synaptic repair, and functional recovery in the mammalian cochlea: a review of recent findings. Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 884, 249–254 (1999).
Spoendlin, H. Primary structural changes in the organ of Corti after acoustic overstimulation. Acta Otolaryngol. 71, 166–176 (1971).
Robertson, D. Functional significance of dendritic swelling after loud sounds in the guinea pig cochlea. Hear. Res. 9, 263–278 (1983).
Matthews, G. & Fuchs, P. The diverse roles of ribbon synapses in sensory neurotransmission. Nature Rev. Neurosci. 11, 812–822 (2010).
Papakonstantinou, A., Strelcyk, O. & Dau, T. Relations between perceptual measures of temporal processing, auditory-evoked brainstem responses and speech intelligibility in noise. Hear. Res. 280, 30–37 (2011).
Dubno, J. R., Horwitz, A. R. & Ahlstrom, J. B. Word recognition in noise at higher-than-normal levels: decreases in scores and increases in masking. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 118, 914–922 (2005).
Léger, A. C., Moore, B. C. J. & Lorenzi, C. Abnormal speech processing in frequency regions where absolute thresholds are normal for listeners with high-frequency hearing loss. Hear. Res. 294, 95–103 (2012).
Kujawa, S. G. & Liberman, M. C. Adding insult to injury: cochlear nerve degeneration after 'temporary' noise-induced hearing loss. J. Neurosci. 29, 14077–14085 (2009).
Kujawa, S. G. & Liberman, M. C. Acceleration of age-related hearing loss by early noise exposure: evidence of a misspent youth. J. Neurosci. 26, 2115–2123 (2006).
Occupational Safety & Health Administration. Occupational noise exposure [online], (OSHA, 1974).
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Criteria for a recommended standard: occupational noise exposure [online], (NIOSH, 1974).
Eggermont, J. J. Hearing loss, hyperacusis, or tinnitus: what is modeled in animal research? Hear. Res. 295, 140–149 (2013).
Wang, Y. & Ren, C. Effects of repeated 'benign' noise exposures in young, CBA mice: shedding light on age-related hearing loss. J. Assoc. Res. Otolaryngol. 13, 505–515 (2012).
Babisch, W. & Ising, H. [The effect of music in discothèques on hearing ability.] Soz. Präventivmed. 34, 239–242 (in German) (1989).
International Organization for Standardization. Acoustics: determination of occupational noise exposure and estimation of noise-induced hearing impairment (ISO, 1990).
Ising, H. [Potential hearing loss caused by loud music. Current status of knowledge and need for management.] HNO 42, 465–466 (in German) (1994).
Becher, S., Struwe, F., Schwenzer, C. & Weber, K. [Risk of hearing loss caused by high volume music—presenting an educational concept for preventing hearing loss in adolescents.] Gesundheitswesen 58, 91–95 (in German) (1996).
Passchier-Vermeer, W. & Passchier, W. F. Noise exposure and public health. Environ. Health Perspect. 108 (Suppl. 1), 123–131 (2000).
Schink, T., Kreutz, G., Busch, V., Pigeot, I. & Ahrens, W. Incidence and relative risk of hearing disorders in professional musicians. Occup. Environ. Med. 71, 472–476 (2014).
O'Brien, I., Wilson, W. & Bradley, A. Nature of orchestral noise. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 124, 926–939 (2008).
Jansen, E. J. M., Helleman, H. W., Dreschler, W. A. & de Laat, J. A. P. M. Noise induced hearing loss and other hearing complaints among musicians of symphony orchestras. Int. Arch. Occup. Environ. Health 82, 153–164 (2009).
Ruggles, D., Bharadwaj, H. & Shinn-Cunningham, B. G. Normal hearing is not enough to guarantee robust encoding of suprathreshold features important in everyday communication. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 108, 15516–15521 (2011).
Kryter, K. D. The Handbook of Hearing and the Effects of Noise: Physiology, Psychology, and Public Health (Emerald Group, 1994).
Ising, H., Babisch, W. & Kruppa, B. Noise-induced endocrine effects and cardiovascular risk. Noise Health 1, 37–48 (1999).
Kight, C. R. & Swaddle, J. P. How and why environmental noise impacts animals: an integrative, mechanistic review. Ecol. Lett. 14, 1052–1061 (2011).
World Health Organization. Guidelines for community noise[online], (WHO, 1999).
Maschke, C. Stress hormone changes persons exposed simulated night noise. Noise Health 5, 35–45 (2003).
Ward, W. D., Cushing, E. M. & Burns, E. M. Effective quiet and moderate TTS: Implications for noise exposure standards. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 59, 160–165 (1976).
World Health Organization. Environmental health criteria 12: noise[online], (WHO, 1980).
Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks. Potential health risks of exposure to noise from personal music players and mobile phones including a music playing function. European Commission [online], (European Commission, 1998).
Canlon, B. & Fransson, A. Morphological and functional preservation of the outer hair cells from noise trauma by sound conditioning. Hear. Res. 84, 112–124 (1995).
Noreña, A. J., Gourévitch, B., Aizawa, N. & Eggermont, J. J. Spectrally enhanced acoustic environment disrupts frequency representation in cat auditory cortex. Nature Neurosci. 9, 932–939 (2006).
Chang, E. F. & Merzenich, M. M. Environmental noise retards auditory cortical development. Science 300, 498–502 (2003).
De Villers-Sidani, E., Chang, E. F., Bao, S. & Merzenich, M. M. Critical period window for spectral tuning defined in the primary auditory cortex (A1) in the rat. J. Neurosci. 27, 180–189 (2007).
Villers-Sidani, E. de, Simpson, K. L., Lu, Y.-F., Lin, R. C. S. & Merzenich, M. M. Manipulating critical period closure across different sectors of the primary auditory cortex. Nature Neurosci. 11, 957–965 (2008).
Sanes, D. H. & Woolley, S. M. N. A behavioral framework to guide research on central auditory development and plasticity. Neuron 72, 912–929 (2011).
Pienkowski, M., Munguia, R. & Eggermont, J. J. Passive exposure of adult cats to bandlimited tone pip ensembles or noise leads to long-term response suppression in auditory cortex. Hear. Res. 277, 117–126 (2011).
Pienkowski, M. & Eggermont, J. J. Passive exposure of adult cats to moderate-level tone pip ensembles differentially decreases AI and AII responsiveness in the exposure frequency range. Hear. Res. 268, 151–162 (2010).
Pienkowski, M. & Eggermont, J. J. Intermittent exposure with moderate-level sound impairs central auditory function of mature animals without concomitant hearing loss. Hear. Res. 261, 30–35 (2010).
Pienkowski, M. & Eggermont, J. J. Long-term, partially-reversible reorganization of frequency tuning in mature cat primary auditory cortex can be induced by passive exposure to moderate-level sounds. Hear. Res. 257, 24–40 (2009).
Engineer, N. D. et al. Environmental enrichment improves response strength, threshold, selectivity, and latency of auditory cortex neurons. J. Neurophysiol. 92, 73–82 (2004).
Huang, S. et al. Pull-push neuromodulation of LTP and LTD enables bidirectional experience-induced synaptic scaling in visual cortex. Neuron 73, 497–510 (2012).
Seol, G. H. et al. Neuromodulators control the polarity of spike-timing-dependent synaptic plasticity. Neuron 55, 919–929 (2007).
Pawlak, V., Wickens, J. R., Kirkwood, A. & Kerr, J. N. D. Timing is not everything: neuromodulation opens the STDP gate. Front. Synaptic Neurosci. 2, 146 (2010).
Sheynikhovich, D., Otani, S. & Arleo, A. Dopaminergic control of long-term depression/long-term potentiation threshold in prefrontal cortex. J. Neurosci. 33, 13914–13926 (2013).
Zhou, X. & Merzenich, M. M. Environmental noise exposure degrades normal listening processes. Nature Commun. 3, 843 (2012).
Zheng, W. Auditory map reorganization and pitch discrimination in adult rats chronically exposed to low-level ambient noise. Front. Syst. Neurosci. 6, 65 (2012).
Dean, I., Harper, N. S. & McAlpine, D. Neural population coding of sound level adapts to stimulus statistics. Nature Neurosci. 8, 1684–1689 (2005).
Robinson, B. L. & McAlpine, D. Gain control mechanisms in the auditory pathway. Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 19, 402–407 (2009).
Dean, I., Robinson, B. L., Harper, N. S. & McAlpine, D. Rapid neural adaptation to sound level statistics. J. Neurosci. 28, 6430–6438 (2008).
Rothman, J. S., Cathala, L., Steuber, V. & Silver, R. A. Synaptic depression enables neuronal gain control. Nature 457, 1015–1018 (2009).
Burrone, J. & Murthy, V. N. Synaptic gain control and homeostasis. Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 13, 560–567 (2003).
Pratt, K. G. & Aizenman, C. D. Homeostatic regulation of intrinsic excitability and synaptic transmission in a developing visual circuit. J. Neurosci. 27, 8268–8277 (2007).
Turrigiano, G. G. Homeostatic plasticity in neuronal networks: the more things change, the more they stay the same. Trends Neurosci. 22, 221–227 (1999).
Turrigiano, G. G. & Nelson, S. B. Homeostatic plasticity in the developing nervous system. Nature Rev. Neurosci. 5, 97–107 (2004).
Turrigiano, G. Too many cooks? Intrinsic and synaptic homeostatic mechanisms in cortical circuit refinement. Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 34, 89–103 (2011).
Marder, E. & Goaillard, J.-M. Variability, compensation and homeostasis in neuron and network function. Nature Rev. Neurosci. 7, 563–574 (2006).
Franklin, J. L., Fickbohm, D. J. & Willard, A. L. Long-term regulation of neuronal calcium currents by prolonged changes of membrane potential. J. Neurosci. 12, 1726–1735 (1992).
Ransdell, J. L., Nair, S. S. & Schulz, D. J. Rapid homeostatic plasticity of intrinsic excitability in a central pattern generator network stabilizes functional neural network output. J. Neurosci. 32, 9649–9658 (2012).
Zhang, W. & Linden, D. J. The other side of the engram: experience-driven changes in neuronal intrinsic excitability. Nature Rev. Neurosci. 4, 885–900 (2003).
Pozo, K. & Goda, Y. Unraveling mechanisms of homeostatic synaptic plasticity. Neuron 66, 337–351 (2010).
Tyagarajan, S. K. & Fritschy, J.-M. GABAA receptors, gephyrin and homeostatic synaptic plasticity. J. Physiol. 588, 101–106 (2010).
Wang, H., Brozoski, T. J. & Caspary, D. M. Inhibitory neurotransmission in animal models of tinnitus: maladaptive plasticity. Hear. Res. 279, 111–117 (2011).
Pienkowski, M., Munguia, R. & Eggermont, J. J. Effects of passive, moderate-level sound exposure on the mature auditory cortex: spectral edges, spectrotemporal density, and real-world noise. Hear. Res. 296, 121–130 (2013).
Pienkowski, M. & Eggermont, J. J. Reversible long-term changes in auditory processing in mature auditory cortex in the absence of hearing loss induced by passive, moderate-level sound exposure. Ear Hear. 33, 305–314 (2012).
Norena, A. J. & Eggermont, J. J. Neural correlates of an auditory afterimage in primary auditory cortex. J. Assoc. Res. Otolaryngol. 4, 312–328 (2003).
Kvale, M. N. & Schreiner, C. E. Short-term adaptation of auditory receptive fields to dynamic stimuli. J. Neurophysiol. 91, 604–612 (2004).
Gourévitch, B. & Eggermont, J. J. Spectro-temporal sound density-dependent long-term adaptation in cat primary auditory cortex. Eur. J. Neurosci. 27, 3310–3321 (2008).
Turner, J. G. et al. Acoustic experience alters the aged auditory system. Ear Hear. 34, 151–159 (2013).
Kotak, V. C. et al. Hearing loss raises excitability in the auditory cortex. J. Neurosci. 25, 3908–3918 (2005).
Norena, A. J. & Eggermont, J. J. Enriched acoustic environment after noise trauma abolishes neural signs of tinnitus. Neuroreport 17, 559–563 (2006).
Mulders, W. H. A. M. & Robertson, D. Development of hyperactivity after acoustic trauma in the guinea pig inferior colliculus. Hear. Res. 298, 104–108 (2013).
Noreña, A. J. & Eggermont, J. J. Enriched acoustic environment after noise trauma reduces hearing loss and prevents cortical map reorganization. J. Neurosci. 25, 699–705 (2005).
Cody, A. R. & Robertson, D. Variability of noise-induced damage in the guinea pig cochlea: electrophysiological and morphological correlates after strictly controlled exposures. Hear Res. 9, 55–70 (1983).
Maison, S. F. & Liberman, M. C. Predicting vulnerability to acoustic injury with a noninvasive assay of olivocochlear reflex strength. J. Neurosci. 20, 4701–4707 (2000).
Maison, S. F., Usubuchi, H. & Liberman, M. C. Efferent feedback minimizes cochlear neuropathy from moderate noise exposure. J. Neurosci. 33, 5542–5552 (2013).
Wang, Y. & Liberman, M. C. Restraint stress and protection from acoustic injury in mice. Hear. Res. 165, 96–102 (2002).
Yoshida, N., Kristiansen, A. & Liberman, M. C. Heat stress and protection from permanent acoustic injury in mice. J. Neurosci. 19, 10116–10124 (1999).
Tahera, Y., Meltser, I., Johansson, P., Salman, H. & Canlon, B. Sound conditioning protects hearing by activating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Neurobiol. Dis. 25, 189–197 (2007).
Öhström, E. & Björkman, M. Effects of noise-disturbed sleep—a laboratory study on habituation and subjective noise sensitivity. J. Sound Vib. 122, 277–290 (1988).
Evans, G. W., Bullinger, M. & Hygge, S. Chronic noise exposure and physiological response: a prospective study of children living under environmental stress. Psychol. Sci. 9, 75–77 (1998).
Waye, K. P. et al. Low frequency noise enhances cortisol among noise sensitive subjects during work performance. Life Sci. 70, 745–758 (2002).
Melamed, S. & Bruhis, S. The effects of chronic industrial noise exposure on urinary cortisol, fatigue and irritability: a controlled field experiment. J. Occup. Environ. Med. 38, 252–256 (1996).
Gates, G. A. & Mills, J. H. Presbycusis. Lancet 366, 1111–1120 (2005).
Tarnowski, B. I., Schmiedt, R. A., Hellstrom, L. I., Lee, F. S. & Adams, J. C. Age-related changes in cochleas of mongolian gerbils. Hear Res. 54, 123–134 (1991).
Gratton, M. A., Bateman, K., Cannuscio, J. F. & Saunders, J. C. Outer- and middle-ear contributions to presbycusis in the Brown Norway rat. Audiol. Neurootol. 13, 37–52 (2008).
Willott, J. F. Aging and the Auditory System: Anatomy, Physiology, and Psychophysics (Singular, 1991).
Frisina, D. R. & Frisina, R. D. Speech recognition in noise and presbycusis: relations to possible neural mechanisms. Hear Res. 106, 95–104 (1997).
Rosen, S., Bergman, M., Plester, D., El-Mofty, A. & Satti, M. H. Presbycusis study of a relatively noise-free population in the Sudan. Ann. Otol. Rhinol. Laryngol. 71, 727–743 (1962).
Cohen, A., Anticaglia, J. & Jones, H. Sociocusis - hearing loss from non-occupational noise exposure. Sound Vibration 4, 12–20 (1970).
Turnock, M. T. Effects of age on hearing in rats. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 58, S90 (1975).
Borg, E. Auditory thresholds in rats of different age and strain. A behavioral and electrophysiological study. Hear. Res. 8, 101–115 (1982).
Langemann, U., Hamann, I. & Friebe, A. A behavioral test of presbycusis in the bird auditory system. Hear. Res. 137, 68–76 (1999).
Hamann, I. et al. Behavioral and evoked-potential thresholds in young and old Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus). Hear Res. 171, 82–95 (2002).
Zeng, F. G. & Djalilian, H. in The Oxford Handbook of Auditory Science (eds Moore, D. R., Fuchs, P. A., Plack, C., Rees, A. & Palmer, A. R.) 325–348 (Oxford Univ. Press, 2010).
Rosenhall, U., Pedersen, K. & Svanborg, A. Presbycusis and noise-induced hearing loss. Ear Hear. 11, 257–263 (1990).
Parbery-Clark, A., Strait, D. L., Anderson, S., Hittner, E. & Kraus, N. Musical experience and the aging auditory system: implications for cognitive abilities and hearing speech in noise. PLoS ONE 6, e18082 (2011).
Zendel, B. R. & Alain, C. Musicians experience less age-related decline in central auditory processing. Psychol. Aging 27, 410–417 (2012).
Bharadwaj, H. M., Verhulst, S., Shaheen, L., Liberman, M. C. & Shinn-Cunningham, B. G. Cochlear neuropathy and the coding of supra-threshold sound. Front. Syst. Neurosci. 8, 26 (2014).
Wehr, M. & Zador, A. M. Balanced inhibition underlies tuning and sharpens spike timing in auditory cortex. Nature 426, 442–446 (2003).
Monier, C., Fournier, J. & Frégnac, Y. In vitro and in vivo measures of evoked excitatory and inhibitory conductance dynamics in sensory cortices. J. Neurosci. Methods 169, 323–365 (2008).
Le Roux, N., Amar, M., Baux, G. & Fossier, P. Homeostatic control of the excitation–inhibition balance in cortical layer 5 pyramidal neurons. Eur. J. Neurosci. 24, 3507–3518 (2006).
Ulanovsky, N., Las, L., Farkas, D. & Nelken, I. Multiple time scales of adaptation in auditory cortex neurons. J. Neurosci. 24, 10440–10453 (2004).
Hansen, K. B., Yuan, H. & Traynelis, S. F. Structural aspects of AMPA receptor activation, desensitization and deactivation. Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 17, 281–288 (2007).
Pin, J.-P. & Acher, F. The metabotropic glutamate receptors: structure, activation mechanism and pharmacology. Curr. Drug Targets CNS Neurol. Disord. 1, 297–317 (2002).
Wehr, M. & Zador, A. M. Synaptic mechanisms of forward suppression in rat auditory cortex. Neuron 47, 437–445 (2005).
Norena, A. J., Tomita, M. & Eggermont, J. J. Neural changes in cat auditory cortex after a transient pure-tone trauma. J. Neurophysiol. 90, 2387–2401 (2003).
Tatavarty, V., Sun, Q. & Turrigiano, G. G. How to scale down postsynaptic strength. J. Neurosci. 33, 13179–13189 (2013).
Cudmore, R. H., Fronzaroli-Molinieres, L., Giraud, P. & Debanne, D. Spike-time precision and network synchrony are controlled by the homeostatic regulation of the D-type potassium current. J. Neurosci. 30, 12885–12895 (2010).
Eldred, K. M., Gannon, W. F. & von Gierke, H. A laboratory method for the study of acoustic trauma. Laryngoscope 58, 465–477 (1957).
Eggermont, J. Noise and the Brain: Experience Dependent Developmental and Adult Plasticity (Academic, 2013).
Norena, A. J. & Chery-Croze, S. Enriched acoustic environment rescales auditory sensitivity. Neuroreport 18, 1251–1255 (2007).
Vanneste, S. et al. Does enriched acoustic environment in humans abolish chronic tinnitus clinically and electrophysiologically? A double blind placebo controlled study. Hear. Res. 296, 141–148 (2013).
Acknowledgements
The authors thank N. Mellen for his careful reading of the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Supplementary information
Supplementary information S1 (box)
Environmental, occupational and recreational sound characteristics (PDF 279 kb)
Supplementary information S2 (figure)
Time course of functional changes following passive exposure to moderate random sounds (PDF 198 kb)
Glossary
- Central auditory system
-
The part of the CNS that processes auditory stimuli from the cochlear nucleus to the auditory cortex.
- dB(A)
-
An alternative to dB sound pressure level (SPL) so that 0 dB(A) is the minimal audible sound intensity at each frequency in people with normal hearing. dB(A) and dB SPL are very close (+−5 dB) between 0.5 and 6 kHz.
- dB sound pressure level
-
(dB SPL). A physical measure of sound pressure for a given frequency, relative to a reference sound pressure of 20 microPascals in air (0dB SPL). Loudness is the perceptual correlate of this physical measure. dB SPL is mostly used in industry and non-human-related measures.
- Equivalent sound level
-
(Leq). A measure of the total sound energy averaged over the duration of the observation period. Formally, this is 20log10 of the ratio of a root-mean-square (RMS) dB(A)-weighted sound pressure during the stated time interval to the reference sound pressure, divided by the exposure duration. This gives a single value of sound level for any desired duration based on the amount of sound energy contained in the time-varying sound. Note that the use of Leq is often discouraged for very long durations (from months to years).
- Hearing thresholds
-
For a given frequency, the lowest intensities at which a pure tone may be heard.
- Homeostasis
-
Originally a concept defined by C. Bernard (1865) and developed by W. B. Cannon (1932), homeostasis for a biological system is its ability to maintain internal stability while adjusting to changing environmental conditions by self-regulation processes. Examples of such processes for living organisms include body temperature and blood composition (glucose, iron and lipids).
- Hyperacusis
-
An oversensitivity to certain frequency ranges.
- Permanent threshold shift
-
(PTS). Noise-induced permanent loss of hearing sensitivity associated with irreversible cochlear hair cell damage.
- Presbycusis
-
Progressive age-related sensorineural hearing loss that is bilateral and symmetrical. Higher frequencies are generally more affected even if genetically determined sensitivity differences need to be factored in.
- Tinnitus
-
A perception of phantom sounds.
- Tonotopy
-
The spatial arrangement of where sounds of different frequency are processed. This organization principle holds from the cochlea to the auditory cortex. Note that a non-tonotopic pathway parallel to the tonotopic one exists in the auditory pathways.
- Temporary threshold shift
-
(TTS). Temporary hearing loss following noise exposure, which lasts a few minutes to a few days.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gourévitch, B., Edeline, JM., Occelli, F. et al. Is the din really harmless? Long-term effects of non-traumatic noise on the adult auditory system. Nat Rev Neurosci 15, 483–491 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3744
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3744
This article is cited by
-
SOD2 Alleviates Hearing Loss Induced by Noise and Kanamycin in Mitochondrial DNA4834-deficient Rats by Regulating PI3K/MAPK Signaling
Current Medical Science (2021)
-
Fluvastatin protects cochleae from damage by high-level noise
Scientific Reports (2018)
-
Effects of Acoustic Environment on Tinnitus Behavior in Sound-Exposed Rats
Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology (2018)