Salicylate induced tinnitus in rats: using a pre-pulse inhibition model to estimate pitch

Abstract

The study of tinnitus in animals has gone through a number of changes with each new animal model of tinnitus that is introduced, and with each change, new information is gained. The advent of the pre-pulse inhibition model has shown that it can be a fast and effective means of measuring the pitch of tinnitus in rats. In this study, the pre-pulse inhibition model was used to determine the pitch of salicylate induced tinnitus in the presence of two levels of background stimuli, 48 and 60 dB SPL. Results showed that a significant difference of PPI was present when comparing baseline and salicylate responses at 16 kHz for the 48 dB SPL background level, indicating the presence of tinnitus with this frequency. Unlike past studies, a significant finding for the 60 dB SPL background level was not found.