Abstract

Thais Veiga Menegassi, Victor Cabral de Mello, Patrícia Cincotto dos Santos Bueno, Dr. Sandra Maria Barbalho*, Claudia Rucco Penteado Detregiachi, Adriano Nakamura and Cristovam Emílio Herculiani

ABSTRACT

Noise is one of the harmful agents to homeostasis and is linked to many branches of economic activity. It may cause hearing impairment, insomnia, annoyance, mental illness, cardiovascular diseases, work inefficiency, modification of social behaviors and many other negative effects for health. If the exposure to noise is temporary, the body tends to return to its original state or to the pre-exposure in a few minutes. However, if the stimulus is maintained regularly, damages may be irreversible. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of noise in the behavior of female Wistar rats. Thirty animals weighting 200g-220g were divided randomly in G1: Control group that was fed water and rat food ad libitum; G2 (n=10): Group exposed to noise for 4 hours/day for 20 days (this exposition was performed during the light cycle); G3 (n=10): Group exposed to noise for 8 hours/day for 20 days (this exposition was performed during the light cycle). G2 and G3 were also fed water and rat food ad libitum. Our results showed a significant impact of sound exposure on the behavior of Wistar rats, and the introduction of a noise source even in a short period of time increases anxiety and stress, and discreetly reduces weight. It was also observed that noise removal reduced the anxiety parameters indicating that the exposure time to which the animals were subjected was not sufficient to produce definitive modifications.