title: Crossmodal induction of thalamocortical potentiation leads to enhanced information processing in the auditory cortex.
abstract: Sensory systems do not work in isolation; instead, they show interactions that are specifically uncovered during sensory loss. To identify and characterize these interactions, we investigated whether visual deprivation leads to functional enhancement in primary auditory cortex (A1). We compared sound-evoked responses of A1 neurons in visually deprived animals to those from normally reared animals. Here, we show that visual deprivation leads to improved frequency selectivity as well as increased frequency and intensity discrimination performance of A1 neurons. Furthermore, we demonstrate in vitro that in adults visual deprivation strengthens thalamocortical (TC) synapses in A1, but not in primary visual cortex (V1). Because deafening potentiated TC synapses in V1, but not A1, crossmodal TC potentiation seems to be a general property of adult cortex. Our results suggest that adults retain the capability for crossmodal changes whereas such capability is absent within a sensory modality. Thus, multimodal training paradigms might be beneficial in sensory-processing disorders.
authors: Department of Neuroscience, Mind/Brain Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
authors: Emily
authors: E
authors: Petrus
authors: Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA; Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
authors: Amal
authors: A
authors: Isaiah
authors: Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
authors: Adam P
authors: AP
authors: Jones
authors: Department of Neuroscience, Mind/Brain Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Li
authors: Department of Neuroscience, Mind/Brain Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
authors: Hui
authors: H
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Neuroscience, Mind/Brain Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA. Electronic address: heykyounglee@jhu.edu.
authors: Hey-Kyoung
authors: HK
authors: Lee
authors: Institute for Systems Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA; Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA. Electronic address: pkanold@umd.edu.
authors: Patrick O
authors: PO
authors: Kanold
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000075402:Channelrhodopsins; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008027:Light; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008239:Lysine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008954:Models, Biological; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D011571:Psychoacoustics; D011930:Reaction Time; D013788:Thalamus / Q000502:physiology*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D000075402:Channelrhodopsins; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; C054562:yellow fluorescent protein, Bacteria; C013411:biocytin; D008239:Lysine