Abstract View

REPRESENTATIONAL REMODELLING INDUCED BY DISTRIBUTED SPATIAL INPUTS IN AUDITORY CORTEX

P.K. Pandya; R. Moucha; D.L. Rathbun; N.D. Engineer; J.L. Vazquez; M.P. Kilgard*

Dept Cognition & Neuroscience, Univ Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA

Cortical networks employ a variety of strategies to improve the representation of the sensory input including receptive-field plasticity and map reorganization. Tonal stimuli associated with activation of the basal forebrain can lead to massive map reorganization. Receptive fields can contract or expand as a function of the sensory input statistics (Kilgard et al, 2001). In this study, two randomly interleaved tones (2 and 14 kHz, 2.8 octave separation) that engage different spatial locations on the cochlea were repeatedly paired with electrical activation of the basal forebrain ~300 times a day for one month to better characterize how spatial input patterns direct plasticity in primary auditory cortex (A1). The cortical representation of tones was obtained by dense mapping of multi-unit responses in each experimental (n=4) and nave control (n=15) animal under anesthesia. The experimental group showed a large increase over controls in the percent of cortex responding to each of the conditioning tones, but not to tones of intermediate frequency. In addition, the mean peak latency of A1 neurons was increased by more than 3 milliseconds (22.3 ms vs. 18.8 ms, p<0.0001). These results extend our understanding of the network consequences of distributed inputs and support earlier evidence that spike timing shapes cortical plasticity.
Supported by: NIH-NIDCD

 

Citation:
P.K. Pandya, R. Moucha, D.L. Rathbun, N.D. Engineer, J.L. Vazquez, M.P. Kilgard. REPRESENTATIONAL REMODELLING INDUCED BY DISTRIBUTED SPATIAL INPUTS IN AUDITORY CORTEX Program No. 458.6. 2002 Abstract Viewer/Itinerary Planner. Washington, DC: Society for Neuroscience, 2002. Online.

 

 

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