Large-scale phenotyping of ABR P1-N1 amplitudes before and after exposure to noise in 69 strains of mice

ABR wave I amplitude represents the synapse of auditory nerve fibers with the inner hair cell and is highly correlated with synapse counts. Cochlear synaptopathy, the loss of synaptic connections between inner hair cells and auditory nerve fibers, has been well-demonstrated in animal models of noise-induced hearing loss. The peak-to-peak wave I amplitude was determined at baseline and 2 weeks after noise exposure. We determined the ABR wave I amplitude at 80 dB SPL at the frequencies of 8, 12, 16, 24, and 32 kHz. A total of 69 strains (1–8 mice/strain) were analyzed. A statistically significant post-noise reduction in wave I amplitude was observed in all the tested frequencies ( p