Central Auditory system Effects of Auditory Deprivation

描述（由申请人提供）：这项工作的长期目标是 了解中央政府的结构和功能变化 听觉系统传导性听力障碍。第二个目标是 确定控制这些潜在可逆性的因素 变化这项工作的临床意义是，许多儿童 在一段时间内，在早期发育期间经历传导性听力损失， 这与快速获得言语和语言技能的过程相吻合。 已知儿童传导性听力损失与以下缺陷有关： 听觉处理技能，其中一些甚至在回归后仍然存在。 正常听力在神经系统中的功能和神经解剖学变化的性质 中枢听觉系统是这些缺陷的基础是未知的。 这一建议的假设是，慢性传导性听力 生命早期的损伤导致中枢听觉系统的结构变化 这些系统与中枢听觉系统的功能缺陷有关 处理.这些影响与年龄有关，在发展中国家更为严重。 动物结构性变化的严重程度将影响 恢复正常听力时的可逆性。实验被提议为 实现三个具体目标，旨在解决这一假设：1）定义 传导性听力损失对听神经活动的影响， 中枢听觉系统，并评估年龄依赖的相互作用; 2）定义 在单侧传导后发生的代谢和结构变化 听力损失的发展和成熟的动物;和3）调查因素 控制上述变化的可逆性。我们假设 可逆性的可能性取决于疾病的类型和严重程度， 传导障碍引起的结构改变，以及发育 动物在攻击时的状态。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant):The long-term goal of this work is to understand the structural and functional changes imposed on the central auditory system by conductive hearing impairment. A secondary goal is to determine the factors that govern the potential for reversibility of these changes. The clinical implications of this work are that many children experience conductive hearing loss during early development, in a time period that coincides with that of rapid acquisition of speech and language skills. Childhood conductive hearing loss is known to be associated with deficits in auditory processing skills, some of which persist even after the return of normal hearing. The nature of the functional and neuroanatomical changes in the central auditory system that underlie these deficits is unknown. The hypothesis underlying this proposal is that chronic conductive hearing impairment in early life results in structural changes in the central auditory systems, which are related to functional deficits in central auditory processing. These effects are age-dependent, and more severe in the developing animal. The severity of the structural change will affect the potential for reversibility when normal hearing is reinstated. Experiments are proposed to achieve three specific aims designed to address this hypothesis: 1) to define the effects of conductive hearing loss on activity in the auditory nerve and central auditory system, and assess the agedependent interactions; 2) to define the metabolic and structural changes that occur following unilateral conductive hearing loss in the developing and mature animal; and 3) to investigate factors that govern the reversibility of the above changes. We hypothesize that the potential for reversibility will depend upon the type and severity of the structural modification induced by conductive impairment, and the developmental stage of the animal at the time of the insult.