Twenty - four adult male albino rats were utilized to study the effect of acute noise stress on the cerebellum for short and long durations. The study revealed that mild degree of subpial congestion and histological alterations were observed in the cerebellum after one week of exposure to noise stress. Also these changes were temporary and disappeared after one week of rest following exposure .
However, numerous and significant neuro histopathological and cytological alterations were observed after three weeks of exposure to acute noise stress. These changes included congestion of pial blood vessels in addition to edema and inflammatory cell infiltration in tissue spaces.
Moreover, purkinje cells revealed signs of degeneration and karyolysis , with proliferation of numerous astrocytic cells. No significant signs toward complete recovery were observed after an equal duration of rest following noise exposure in the different cerebellar layers as compared with the previously examined group.
Thus, it is clear that acute exposure to noise stress for a long duration affects directly and irreversibly the neurons of cerebellum and causes permanent histopathological changes. However, the short duration of exposure insignificantly affects the neurons and causes temporary and reversible histological alterations.