Changes in frequency representation in the auditory system of mice with age-related hearing impairment.
Aging C57BL/6 mice show a progressive decline in sensitivity to sound, beginning with high frequencies. In the inferior colliculus (IC), tonotopic organization--the orderly representation of frequency from low to high along the dorsoventral dimension--shows marked changes. No neurons respond to high frequencies, most respond best to a restricted range of frequencies, and ventral neurons become responsive to low frequencies. These age-related response alterations have implications for hearing problems of aging humans.
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D001306:Auditory Pathways / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000503:physiopathology; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006316:Hearing Loss, High-Frequency / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007245:Inferior Colliculi / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000503:physiopathology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL