ABSTRACT
There are two general approaches to assessing hearing in mice: electrophysiological and behavioral. A popular way of assessing hearing in mice is to use an electrophysiological measure; specifically, the auditory brainstem response or ABR (e.g., Q.Y. Zheng et al., 1999b). The popularity of this technique stems from the fact that it is relatively easy to learn and can provide rapid results, with measurements usually taking no more than an hour or so. However, the ABR is actually a measure of neural synchrony — not auditory sensitivity — and at best can only be used to infer absolute sensitivity (Hood, 1998). In addition, it cannot provide information regarding an animal’s ability to discriminate sounds. In the clinic, the ABR is useful in diagnosing auditory disorders, but has not supplanted behavioral tests of hearing. Indeed, it is known on occasion to significantly overestimate and underestimate the effect of auditory malfunctions on sensory thresholds (Hood et al., 1994; Starr et al., 1996). Thus, although the ABR is a useful tool in assessing hearing disorders, it is necessary to employ behavioral procedures to obtain valid measures of auditory function. The ABR method is discussed in detail in Chapter 4.
