Acoustical Determinants of Audiogenic Seizures in Laboratory Mice

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Abstract
Albino mice were tested for susceptibility to audiogenic seizures in sound fields of various frequencies and intensities. Attempts to fix the ears of the mice with respect to the sound source by suspending the mice with a large spring clip on the dorsal skin-fold brought few seizures at any intensity. The mice were therefore tested in a small wire-mesh cage suspended in front of the sound-transducer, and the positions of their ears during the treatment were recorded. At 10 kc, at least 92 db were needed to induce seizures in mice with no previous seizures, while only 83 db were needed for animals with previous seizures. The most effective frequencies for the induction of seizures were between 12 and 25 kc. Effectiveness dropped off sharply below 10 kc, and was very low at 5 kc. Studies were not made above 25 kc. The peak of the mouse''s audiogram is probably near the frequencies most effective for induction of seizures and is thus about 1.5 octaves above that of man although a little lower than that of the rat. The ability of mice to hear at frequencies which are ultrasonic for the human ear probably accounts for the intense reactions of mice to complex sounds which seem of moderate intensity to man.

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