Animal models for hearing evaluations: a literature review/Modelos animais para avaliacao auditiva: revisao de literatura

This review aims to outline which animal models are viable for preclinical hearing research, considering their anatomical and physiological characteristics, and their advantages and disadvantages of use. PubMed, Scielo, and Portal Periodicos Capes were consulted, using descriptors concerning hearing, hearing tests and animal species, individually and crossed with each other. The abstracts of the articles found in the databases were read, with subsequent selection based on the following criteria: free articles, use of animal models in audiological procedures that included the description of the evaluation methods, the advantages and/or disadvantages of using the species, and published between 1995 and 2016. Despite the existence of alternative models, mammals are still widely used in research. It has been found that rats, mice and guinea pigs are frequently used, and, in addition to these, sheep, rabbits and chinchillas. The methods for auditory evaluation mainly comprise distortion product otoacoustic emissions, brainstem auditory evoked potential and histological evaluation, especially in rodents. Choosing the experimental animal to evaluate the auditory system depends on anatomical, physiological, economic, spatial and psychosocial factors, and on the evaluation's objective.