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Medina AE, Foxworthy WA, Keum D, Meredith MA. Development of multisensory processing in ferret parietal cortex. Eur J Neurosci 2023; 58:3226-3238. [PMID: 37452674 PMCID: PMC10503439 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.16094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2023] [Revised: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023]
Abstract
It is well known that the nervous system adjusts itself to its environment during development. Although a great deal of effort has been directed towards understanding the developmental processes of the individual sensory systems (e.g., vision, hearing, etc.), only one major study has examined the maturation of multisensory processing in cortical neurons. Therefore, the present investigation sought to evaluate multisensory development in a different cortical region and species. Using multiple single-unit recordings in anaesthetised ferrets (n = 18) of different ages (from postnatal day 80 to 300), we studied the responses of neurons from the rostral posterior parietal (PPr) area to presentations of visual, tactile and combined visual-tactile stimulation. The results showed that multisensory neurons were infrequent at the youngest ages (pre-pubertal) and progressively increased through the later ages. Significant response changes that result from multisensory stimulation (defined as multisensory integration [MSI]) were observed in post-pubertal adolescent animals, and the magnitude of these integrated responses also increased across this age group. Furthermore, non-significant multisensory response changes were progressively increased in adolescent animals. Collectively, at the population level, MSI was observed to shift from primarily suppressive levels in infants to increasingly higher levels in later stages. These data indicate that, like the unisensory systems from which it is derived, multisensory processing shows developmental changes whose specific time course may be regionally and species-dependent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre E. Medina
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
| | - W. Alex Foxworthy
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
- Department of Biology, Eastern Shore Community College, Melfa, VA
| | - Dongil Keum
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
| | - M. Alex Meredith
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
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Ponticorvo S, Manara R, Cassandro E, Canna A, Scarpa A, Troisi D, Cassandro C, Cuoco S, Cappiello A, Pellecchia MT, Salle FD, Esposito F. Cross-modal connectivity effects in age-related hearing loss. Neurobiol Aging 2021; 111:1-13. [PMID: 34915240 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2021.09.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2021] [Revised: 08/31/2021] [Accepted: 09/01/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Age-related sensorineural hearing loss (HL) leads to localized brain changes in the primary auditory cortex, long-range functional alterations, and is considered a risk factor for dementia. Nonhuman studies have repeatedly highlighted cross-modal brain plasticity in sensorial brain networks other than those primarily involved in the peripheral damage, thus in this study, the possible cortical alterations associated with HL have been analyzed using a whole-brain multimodal connectomic approach. Fifty-two HL and 30 normal hearing participants were examined in a 3T MRI study along with audiological and neurological assessments. Between-regions functional connectivity and whole-brain probabilistic tractography were calculated in a connectome-based manner and graph theory was used to obtain low-dimensional features for the analysis of brain connectivity at global and local levels. The HL condition was associated with a different functional organization of the visual subnetwork as revealed by a significant increase in global efficiency, density, and clustering coefficient. These functional effects were mirrored by similar (but more subtle) structural effects suggesting that a functional repurposing of visual cortical centers occurs to compensate for age-related loss of hearing abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Ponticorvo
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, Scuola Medica Salernitana, University of Salerno, Baronissi, Italy
| | - Renzo Manara
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, Scuola Medica Salernitana, University of Salerno, Baronissi, Italy; Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Ettore Cassandro
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, Scuola Medica Salernitana, University of Salerno, Baronissi, Italy; University Hospital "San Giovanni di Dio e Ruggi D'Aragona", Scuola Medica Salernitana, Salerno, Italy
| | - Antonietta Canna
- Department of Advanced Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Napoli, Italy
| | - Alfonso Scarpa
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, Scuola Medica Salernitana, University of Salerno, Baronissi, Italy; University Hospital "San Giovanni di Dio e Ruggi D'Aragona", Scuola Medica Salernitana, Salerno, Italy
| | - Donato Troisi
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, Scuola Medica Salernitana, University of Salerno, Baronissi, Italy; University Hospital "San Giovanni di Dio e Ruggi D'Aragona", Scuola Medica Salernitana, Salerno, Italy
| | - Claudia Cassandro
- University Hospital "San Giovanni di Dio e Ruggi D'Aragona", Scuola Medica Salernitana, Salerno, Italy
| | - Sofia Cuoco
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, Scuola Medica Salernitana, University of Salerno, Baronissi, Italy; University Hospital "San Giovanni di Dio e Ruggi D'Aragona", Scuola Medica Salernitana, Salerno, Italy
| | - Arianna Cappiello
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, Scuola Medica Salernitana, University of Salerno, Baronissi, Italy; University Hospital "San Giovanni di Dio e Ruggi D'Aragona", Scuola Medica Salernitana, Salerno, Italy
| | - Maria Teresa Pellecchia
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, Scuola Medica Salernitana, University of Salerno, Baronissi, Italy; University Hospital "San Giovanni di Dio e Ruggi D'Aragona", Scuola Medica Salernitana, Salerno, Italy
| | - Francesco Di Salle
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, Scuola Medica Salernitana, University of Salerno, Baronissi, Italy; University Hospital "San Giovanni di Dio e Ruggi D'Aragona", Scuola Medica Salernitana, Salerno, Italy
| | - Fabrizio Esposito
- Department of Advanced Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Napoli, Italy.
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