Species-dependent role of crossmodal connectivity among the primary sensory cortices.
When a major sense is lost, crossmodal plasticity substitutes functional processing from the remaining, intact senses. Recent studies of deafness-induced crossmodal plasticity in different subregions of auditory cortex indicate that the phenomenon is largely based on the "unmasking" of existing inputs. However, there is not yet a consensus on the sources or effects of crossmodal inputs to primary sensory cortical areas. In the present review, a rigorous re-examination of the experimental literature indicates that connections between different primary sensory cortices consistently occur in rodents, while primary-to-primary projections are absent/inconsistent in non-rodents such as cats and monkeys. These observations suggest that crossmodal plasticity that involves primary sensory areas are likely to exhibit species-specific distinctions.
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA 23298-0709, USA. Electronic address: mameredi@vcu.edu.
M Alex
MA
Meredith
Department of Physiology & Pharmacology, University of Western Ontario, London, N6A 5B7 Canada; Cerebral Systems Laboratory, University of Western Ontario, London, N6A 5B7 Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, N6A 5B7 Canada; National Centre for Audiology, University of Western Ontario, London, N6A 5B7 Canada. Electronic address: steven.lomber@uwo.edu.
Stephen G
SG
Lomber
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000818:Animals; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D001306:Auditory Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D001307:Auditory Perception; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D003638:Deafness / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006309:Hearing; D006801:Humans; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D013045:Species Specificity; D014785:Vision, Ocular; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception
Auditory cortex; Cat; Non-human primate; Rodent; Somatosensory cortex; Visual cortex