We found a match
Your institution may have rights to this item. Sign in to continue.
- Title
Reorganization of auditory map and pitch 6 discrimination in adult rats chronically exposed to low-level ambient noise.
- Authors
Weimin Zheng
- Abstract
Behavioral adaption to a changing environment is critical for an animal's survival. How well the brain can modify its functional properties based on experience essentially defines the limits of behavioral adaptation. In adult animals the extent to which experience shapes brain function has not been fully explored. Moreover, the perceptual consequences of experience-induced changes in the brains of adults remain unknown. Here we show that the tonotopic map in the primary auditory cortex of adult rats living with low-level ambient noise underwent a dramatic reorganization. Behaviorally, chronic noise-exposure impaired fine, but not coarse pitch discrimination. When tested in a noisy environment, the noise-exposed rats performed as well as in a quiet environment whereas the control rats performed poorly. This suggests that noise-exposed animals had adapted to living in a noisy environment. Behavioral pattern analyses revealed that stress or distraction engendered by the noisy background could not account for the poor performance of the control rats in a noisy environment. A reorganized auditory map may therefore have served as the neural substrate for the consistent performance of the noise exposed rats in a noisy environment.
- Subjects
NEUROPLASTICITY; BRAIN; AUDITORY pathways; ABSOLUTE pitch; AUDITORY adaptation; LABORATORY rats
- Publication
Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience, 2012, Vol 6, p1
- ISSN
1662-5137
- Publication type
Article