Purpose: Febrile seizures which are often caused by high fevers are the most prevalent type of seizures that may be affected by Stress-inducing factors during prenatal and postnatal periods. Noise stress also seems to have influences on hyperthermic-induced seizures. In this study we examined the effects of fetal and infantile exposure to noise pollution on triggering febrile seizures. Method: Pregnant female rats were divided into two groups. The first group rats (I) were exposed to the noise of 103 dB (2 h/day), including 5 min noise patterns with different frequencies followed by a one- minute silence period in a randomized manner. The second group rats (II) were kept in normal conditions. After birth, infants of the first group mothers (I) were also divided into 2 groups, one was exposed to a 2 h noise/day exactly after birth (n = 9) and the other was put into normal conditions (n = 9). Infants of the second group mothers (II) were also allocated in the normal (n = 9) and experimental (n = 9) categories with noise exposure and non exposure periods respectively. Eight days after birth all of the infants (n = 36) were examined for hypothermic-induced seizures. Results: The results indicate a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) in the mean time to the onset of febrile seizure between experimental (prenatally noise exposure/prenatally and postnatally noise exposure) and control groups. Conclusion: This study confirms that, exposure to noise may reduce the time interval between initiation of hyperthermia and convulsions.

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