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Gerum R, Rahlfs H, Streb M, Krauss P, Grimm J, Metzner C, Tziridis K, Günther M, Schulze H, Kellermann W, Schilling A. Open(G)PIAS: An Open-Source Solution for the Construction of a High-Precision Acoustic Startle Response Setup for Tinnitus Screening and Threshold Estimation in Rodents. Front Behav Neurosci 2019; 13:140. [PMID: 31293403 PMCID: PMC6603242 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2019] [Accepted: 06/07/2019] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The modulation of the acoustic startle reflex (ASR) by a pre-stimulus called pre-pulse inhibition (PPI, for gap of silence pre-stimulus: GPIAS) is a versatile tool to, e.g., estimate hearing thresholds or identify subjective tinnitus percepts in rodents. A proper application of these paradigms depends on a reliable measurement of the ASR amplitudes and an exact stimulus presentation in terms of frequency and intensity. Here, we introduce a novel open-source solution for the construction of a low-cost ASR setup. The complete software for data acquisition and stimulus presentation is written in Python 3.6 and is provided as an Anaconda package. Furthermore, we provide a construction plan for the sensor system based on low-cost hardware components. Exemplary GPIAS data from two animal models (Mus musculus, Meriones unguiculatus) show that the ratio histograms (1-GPIAS) of the gap-pre-stimulus and no pre-stimulus ASR amplitudes can be well described by a log-normal distribution being in good accordance to previous studies with already established setups. Furthermore, it can be shown that the PPI as a function of pre-stimulus intensity (threshold paradigm) can be approximated with a hard-sigmoid function enabling a reproducible sensory threshold estimation. Thus, we show that the open-source solution could help to further establish the ASR method in many laboratories and, thus, facilitate and standardize research in animal models of tinnitus and/or hearing loss.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard Gerum
- Biophysics Group, Department of Physics, Center for Medical Physics and Technology, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
| | - Hinrich Rahlfs
- Experimental Otolaryngology, ENT-Hospital, Head and Neck Surgery, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.,Multimedia Communications and Signal Processing, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
| | - Matthias Streb
- Experimental Otolaryngology, ENT-Hospital, Head and Neck Surgery, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.,Multimedia Communications and Signal Processing, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
| | - Patrick Krauss
- Experimental Otolaryngology, ENT-Hospital, Head and Neck Surgery, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.,Cognitive Computational Neuroscience Group at the Chair of English Philology and Linguistics, Department of English and American Studies, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
| | - Jannik Grimm
- Experimental Otolaryngology, ENT-Hospital, Head and Neck Surgery, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
| | - Claus Metzner
- Biophysics Group, Department of Physics, Center for Medical Physics and Technology, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
| | - Konstantin Tziridis
- Experimental Otolaryngology, ENT-Hospital, Head and Neck Surgery, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
| | - Michael Günther
- Multimedia Communications and Signal Processing, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
| | - Holger Schulze
- Experimental Otolaryngology, ENT-Hospital, Head and Neck Surgery, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
| | - Walter Kellermann
- Multimedia Communications and Signal Processing, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
| | - Achim Schilling
- Experimental Otolaryngology, ENT-Hospital, Head and Neck Surgery, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.,Cognitive Computational Neuroscience Group at the Chair of English Philology and Linguistics, Department of English and American Studies, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
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