The effect of exposure level on the development of progressive resistance to noise.

The effect of exposure level on the development of progressive resistance to temporary threshold shift caused by exposures to an octave band of noise centered at 0.5 kHz was explored using chinchillas. The animals were exposed to either 85, 95 or 100 dB SPL for six hours a day for ten days. Hearing thresholds were recorded electrophysiologically, prior to and after each daily exposure. A trend toward decreasing threshold shift with increase in the number of exposures was seen at all the levels. The amount of threshold shift appeared to depend upon the level as well as the test frequency. The findings are discussed in the light of results of previous studies and possible mechanisms involved in the process of 'toughening' are hypothesized.