Modern living environments expose humans to various types of noise for long periods of time, which may come from environmental exposures, geomagnetic environments, communication equipment, and electrical equipment. Acoustic stimulation, a non-invasive neurological disease treatment, has been shown to have specific effects on the human nervous system. The present study investigated the mechanisms by which external noise stimulation affects ion channel properties in neuronal cells. Whole-cell membrane clamp technique was used to record ion channel current changes in rat cortical neurons under external noise stimulation, and ion channel kinetic properties were analyzed in conjunction with the Hodgkin-Huxley model. The experimental results showed that the external noise environment increased the peak Na+ channel current density, which increased from -263.22±38.47 pA/pF in the control group to -372.83±11.09 pA/pF after 18 min of noise stimulation. Meanwhile, the external noise stimulation significantly inhibited the transient outward potassium current, and the percentage of inhibition increased with the prolongation of the stimulation time, reaching 62.62% at 18 min. It reached 62.62% at 18 min. Further analysis revealed that the external noise stimulation left shifted the half-activation voltage of Na+ ion channels from -32.04±0.58 mV to -56.42±0.51 mV, which promoted the activation process of Na+ channels; meanwhile, it left shifted the half-inactivation voltage of Na+ currents from -30.21±0.19 mV to -50.52±0.75 mV, which accelerated the Na+ ion channel inactivation rate. The study reveals the mechanism by which external noise stimuli change the oscillatory properties of neurons by affecting the properties of ion channels, and provides a cellular level experimental basis for understanding the effects of noise environment on the nervous system.
