简介:Thepathophysiologyoftinnitusispoorlyunderstoodandtreatmentsareoftenunsuccessful.Anumberofanimalmodelshavebeendevelopedinordertogainabetterunderstandingoftinnitus.Agreatdealhasbeenlearnedfromthesemodelsregardingtheelectrophysiologicalandneuroanatomicalcorrelatesoftinnitusfollowingexposuretonoiseorototoxicdrugs.Reliablebehavioraldataisimportantfordeterminingwhethersuchelectrophysiologicalorneuroanatomicalchangesareindeedrelatedtotinnitus.Ofthemanydocumentedtinnitusanimalbehavioralparadigms,theacousticstartlereflexhadbeenproposedasasimplemethodtoidentifythepresenceorabsenceoftinnitus.Severalbehavioralmodelsbasedonconditionedresponsesuppressionparadigmshavealsobeendeveloped.Inadditiontodeterminingthepresenceorabsenceoftinnitus,someofthebehavioralparadigmshaveprovidedsignsoftheonset,frequency,andintensityoftinnitusinanimals.Althoughnoneofthesebehavioralmodelshavebeenprovedtobeaperfectmodel,thesestudiesprovideusefulinformationonunderstandingtheneuralmechanismsunderlyingtinnitus.