Developmental Hearing Loss Eliminates Long-Term Potentiation in the Auditory Cortex

Severe hearing loss during early development is associated with deficits in speech and language acquisition. Although functional studies have shown a deafness-induced alteration of synaptic strength, it is not known whether long-term synaptic plasticity depends on auditory experience. In this study,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2007-02, Vol.104 (9), p.3550-3555
Main Authors: Kotak, Vibhakar C., Breithaupt, Andrew D., Sanes, Dan H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Auditory cortex
Auditory Cortex - growth & development
Behavioral neuroscience
Biological Sciences
Deafness
Ears & hearing
Gerbillinae
Hearing loss
Hearing Loss - complications
Long term depression
Long term potentiation
Mental depression
Neurology
Neuronal Plasticity - physiology
Neurons
Neurons - cytology
Neurons - physiology
Patch-Clamp Techniques
Plasticity
Reed Sternberg cells
Sensorineural hearing loss
Studies
Synapses - physiology
Synaptic Transmission - physiology
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Summary:Severe hearing loss during early development is associated with deficits in speech and language acquisition. Although functional studies have shown a deafness-induced alteration of synaptic strength, it is not known whether long-term synaptic plasticity depends on auditory experience. In this study, sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) was induced surgically in developing gerbils at postnatal day 10, and excitatory synaptic plasticity was examined subsequently in a brain slice preparation that preserves the thalamorecipient auditory cortex. Extracellular stimuli were applied at layer 6 (L6), whereas evoked excitatory synaptic potentials (EPSPs) were recorded from L5 neurons by using a whole-cell current clamp configuration. In control neurons, the conditioning stimulation of L6 significantly altered EPSP amplitude for at least 1 h. Approximately half of neurons displayed long-term potentiation (LTP), whereas the other half displayed long-term depression (LTD). In contrast, SNHL neurons displayed only LTD after the conditioning stimulation of L6. Finally, the vast majority of neurons recorded from control prehearing animals (postnatal days 9-11) displayed LTD after L6 stimulation. Thus, normal auditory experience may be essential for the maturation of synaptic plasticity mechanisms.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0607177104