EFFECTS OF OXYGEN DEPRIVATION UPON THE COCHLEAR POTENTIALS

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Abstract
Measurements of the electrical potentials of the cochlea, carried out in cats, revealed deleterious effects upon the ear as a result of oxygen deprivation. The deprivation has to be severe and is produced by respiring air containing less than 4% of oxygen[long dash]a mixture that gives the same partial pressure of oxygen as that of the atmosphere at an altitude exceeding 40,000 ft. above sea level. As is well known, this degree of oxygen lack cannot be endured by man without loss of consciousness and even of life itself; and it was possible for the cats only because they were maintained at minimal activity under anesthesia and curare and were artificially respired. As the anesthesia develops over several min., the cochlear potentials undergo a rapid initial loss and then tend to level off. With extreme deprivations, which carry the animal close to the point of death, the losses may amount to 40 decibels and more. On a return to normal breathing the responses recover, but only partially. Repeated exposures to anoxemia give a cumulative deterioration of the responses. The effects are found for all tones, without appreciable variation with frequency.
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