Abstract：
Despite affecting over 1.5 billion people globally, hearing loss (HL) has been referred to as an \"invisible disability\", with noise exposure being a major causative factor. Accumulating evidence suggests that HL can induce cognitive impairment. However, relatively little is known about the effects of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) on social memory. This study aimed to further investigate the effect of NIHL on social behaviours in mice. We established a rodent model of NIHL using 4-week-old C57BL/6J mice who experienced narrow noise exposure at 116 dB for 3 h per day over two consecutive days. Hearing ability was subsequently evaluated through auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing, and potential changes in the morphology of cochlear hair cells were assessed using immunofluorescence. The sociability and social memory of the mice were evaluated using the three-chamber social interaction test. Noise exposure resulted in complete and persistent HL in C57BL/6J mice, accompanied by severe loss of cochlear hair cells. More importantly, social memory was impaired in adult NIHL mice, whereas their sociability remained intact, these changes were accompanied by a decrease in the protein levels of the inhibitory neuron marker glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 (GAD67) in the ventral hippocampus. This study is the first to confirm that long-term auditory deprivation from HL induced by noise exposure results in social memory deficits in mice without altering their sociability.
摘要：
尽管影响了全球超过15亿人，听力损失(HL)被称为“隐形残疾”，噪声暴露是一个主要的致病因素。越来越多的证据表明HL可以引起认知障碍。然而,关于噪声引起的听力损失（NIHL）对社会记忆的影响知之甚少。本研究旨在进一步研究NIHL对小鼠社会行为的影响。我们使用4周龄的C57BL/6J小鼠建立了NIHL的啮齿动物模型，这些小鼠在连续两天内每天以116dB的狭窄噪声暴露3小时。随后通过听觉脑干反应（ABR）测试评估听力能力，并使用免疫荧光评估耳蜗毛细胞形态的潜在变化。使用三室社交互动测试评估小鼠的社交能力和社会记忆。噪声暴露导致C57BL/6J小鼠完全和持续的HL，伴有耳蜗毛细胞的严重损失。更重要的是,成年NIHL小鼠的社会记忆受损，而他们的社交能力保持不变，这些变化伴随着腹侧海马中抑制性神经元标志物谷氨酸脱羧酶67(GAD67)蛋白水平的降低.这项研究首次证实，由噪声暴露引起的HL的长期听觉剥夺会导致小鼠的社交记忆缺陷，而不会改变其社交能力。
