Effects of visual deprivation on neuronal processing in auditory cortex

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In this research project, we examined whether the loss of eye sight affects cortical neurons in auditory cortex using mice as a model. In an electrophysiological examination of cortical neurons in primary auditory cortex that receive direct auditory thalamic inputs, we found that the regulation of neuronal excitability by the neurotransmitter acetylcholine is compromised by visual loss, while intrinsic membrane properties of them were largely unaffected. Further, in the auditory cortex of blind mice, sound stimulation elicited little activation of regulatory proteins of gene expression, while they are clearly activated in sighted control mice. These results suggest that neuronal functions in auditory cortex change due to the loss of eye sight during development and raise the possibility that sensory loss changes neuronal properties in the cortex of different modality.