Abstract
The effects of adapting sounds (pip trains or pure tones) on auditory evoked potentials (the rate following response, RFR) were investigated in a beluga whale. During RFR acquisition, adapting signals lasting 128 ms each were alternated with test signals lasting 16 ms each; the test signal levels varied randomly. Adapting signals were trains of cosine-enveloped tone pips or pure tones. Pip rate varied with the envelope cosine cycle maintained at 0.125 of pip intervals and the cosine rise–fall time maintained at 0.0625 of pip intervals. Adapting signals shifted the amplitude-level function upward compared to the baseline (no adapting signal) function. The higher the adapting signal level was, the bigger the shift in the amplitude-level function was. The slower the pips were in the adapting signal, the smaller the adaptation effect was. A train of pips with a 0.0625-ms rise–fall time and 125 dB SPL shifted the function by 35–40 dB, whereas a train of pips with a 1-ms rise–fall time or a pure tone with the same SPL shifted the function by approximately 15 dB. The difference between the “fast” and “slow” adapting signals is supposed to be associated with their abilities to stimulate the auditory system in odontocetes.
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Abbreviations
- ABR:
-
Auditory brainstem response
- AEP:
-
Auditory evoked potential
- RFR:
-
Rate following response
- RMS:
-
Root-mean-square
- SPL:
-
Sound pressure level
- TTS:
-
Temporary threshold shift
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Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Grant no. 18-04-00088) to VVP. All procedures performed in the study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, and were approved by the Ethical Committee of the Institute. Authors thank American Journal experts for language editing.
Funding
This study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Grant no. 18-04-00088).
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Popov, V.V., Supin, A.Y., Nechaev, D.I. et al. Adaptation in the auditory system of a beluga whale: effect of adapting sound parameters. J Comp Physiol A 205, 707–715 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-019-01358-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-019-01358-w