Implications of neurotrophin supported auditory neuron survival for maintenance of the tonotopic organization of the central auditory pathway.
Recent experiments have demonstrated the effectiveness of members of the neurotrophin family of growth factors in supporting the survival of primary auditory neurons following ototoxic trauma. In this report, we examined the implications of these results in light of current knowledge about activity dependent central nervous system reorganization. We suggest that the use of trophic factors in conjunction with patterned stimulation of afferent nerve fibers could preserve the majority of the tonotopic arrangement of the central pathway. We propose experiments to test the effects of NT-3 induced neuron survival on the organization of primary auditory cortex.
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Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA.
Van de Water
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D000818:Animals; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D001306:Auditory Pathways / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology*; D002470:Cell Survival; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D051379:Mice; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology*; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D020933:Neurotrophin 3; D013136:Spiral Ganglion / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology
D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D020933:Neurotrophin 3