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Effects of very high-frequency sound and ultrasound on humans part I: adverse symptoms after exposure to audible very-high frequency sound

Effects of very high-frequency sound and ultrasound on humans part I: adverse symptoms after exposure to audible very-high frequency sound
Effects of very high-frequency sound and ultrasound on humans part I: adverse symptoms after exposure to audible very-high frequency sound
Various adverse symptoms resulting from exposure to very high-frequency sound (VHFS) and ultrasound (US) have previously been reported. This study aimed to establish whether these symptoms are experienced under controlled laboratory conditions and are specific to VHFS/US. To do this, participants were exposed to VHFS/US (at frequencies between 13.5 and 20 kHz and sound pressure levels between 82 and 92 dB) and to a 1 kHz reference stimulus, both at 25 dB above their hearing threshold. The VHFS/US and reference stimuli were presented 4 times, each time for 3 minutes, during which participants performed a sustained attention task, rated their symptom severity, and had their galvanic skin response (GSR) measured to assess their level of anxiety. Prior to exposure, participants were assigned either to a symptomatic or an asymptomatic group, based on their prior history of symptoms that they attributed to VHFS/US. In both groups, overall discomfort ratings were higher in the VHFS/US condition than the reference condition. In the symptomatic group only, difficulty concentrating and annoyance were also rated higher in the VHFS/US than the reference condition. No difference between the two stimulus conditions was seen in performance on the attention task or on average GSRs for either group.
0001-4966
2511-2520
Fletcher, Mark
ac11588a-fafe-4dbb-8b3c-80a6ff030546
Lloyd Jones, Sian
a6c2a3b2-5f72-453f-9971-74f72e44c8eb
White, Paul
2dd2477b-5aa9-42e2-9d19-0806d994eaba
Dolder, Craig
b08350be-fd09-4049-95bd-06a9c157a8bc
Leighton, Timothy
3e5262ce-1d7d-42eb-b013-fcc5c286bbae
Lineton, Ben
1ace4e96-34da-4fc4-bc17-a1d82b2ba0e2
Fletcher, Mark
ac11588a-fafe-4dbb-8b3c-80a6ff030546
Lloyd Jones, Sian
a6c2a3b2-5f72-453f-9971-74f72e44c8eb
White, Paul
2dd2477b-5aa9-42e2-9d19-0806d994eaba
Dolder, Craig
b08350be-fd09-4049-95bd-06a9c157a8bc
Leighton, Timothy
3e5262ce-1d7d-42eb-b013-fcc5c286bbae
Lineton, Ben
1ace4e96-34da-4fc4-bc17-a1d82b2ba0e2

Fletcher, Mark, Lloyd Jones, Sian, White, Paul, Dolder, Craig, Leighton, Timothy and Lineton, Ben (2018) Effects of very high-frequency sound and ultrasound on humans part I: adverse symptoms after exposure to audible very-high frequency sound. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 144 (4), 2511-2520, [2511]. (doi:10.1121/1.5063819).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Various adverse symptoms resulting from exposure to very high-frequency sound (VHFS) and ultrasound (US) have previously been reported. This study aimed to establish whether these symptoms are experienced under controlled laboratory conditions and are specific to VHFS/US. To do this, participants were exposed to VHFS/US (at frequencies between 13.5 and 20 kHz and sound pressure levels between 82 and 92 dB) and to a 1 kHz reference stimulus, both at 25 dB above their hearing threshold. The VHFS/US and reference stimuli were presented 4 times, each time for 3 minutes, during which participants performed a sustained attention task, rated their symptom severity, and had their galvanic skin response (GSR) measured to assess their level of anxiety. Prior to exposure, participants were assigned either to a symptomatic or an asymptomatic group, based on their prior history of symptoms that they attributed to VHFS/US. In both groups, overall discomfort ratings were higher in the VHFS/US condition than the reference condition. In the symptomatic group only, difficulty concentrating and annoyance were also rated higher in the VHFS/US than the reference condition. No difference between the two stimulus conditions was seen in performance on the attention task or on average GSRs for either group.

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Effects of very high-frequency audible sound - Accepted Manuscript
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Accepted/In Press date: 1 March 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 31 October 2018
Published date: October 2018

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 418581
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/418581
ISSN: 0001-4966
PURE UUID: 7542cc36-900d-4fd9-9a8f-7df4fef8f0a4
ORCID for Paul White: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4787-8713
ORCID for Craig Dolder: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-0817-326X
ORCID for Timothy Leighton: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1649-8750
ORCID for Ben Lineton: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-4784-7762

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Date deposited: 12 Mar 2018 17:30
Last modified: 12 Jul 2024 04:04

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Contributors

Author: Mark Fletcher
Author: Sian Lloyd Jones
Author: Paul White ORCID iD
Author: Craig Dolder ORCID iD
Author: Ben Lineton ORCID iD

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