The Lee Lab reports in Neuron
The Lee lab reports in Neuron that visual deprivation leads to improved frequency selectivity as well as increased frequency and intensity discrimination performance in primary auditory cortex A1 neurons. They demonstrate in vitro that in adults visual deprivation strengthens thalamocortical (TC) synapses in A1, but not in primary visual cortex (V1). Because deafening potentiated TC synapses in V1, but not A1, crossmodal TC potentiation seems to be a general property of adult cortex. Their results suggest that adults retain the capability for crossmodal changes whereas such capability is absent within a sensory modality. Thus, multimodal training paradigms might be beneficial in sensory-processing disorders.
Petrus et al., Crossmodal Induction of Thalamocortical Potentiation Leads to Enhanced Information Processing in the Auditory Cortex, Neuron, Volume 81, Issue 3, p 664-673, 2014.
In the News:
NPR:
http://www.npr.org/2014/02/05/272092118/hard-of-hearing-a-few-days-in-the-dark-may-help
JHU HUB:
http://hub.jhu.edu/2014/02/05/blindness-hearing-loss
The Scientist:
http://www.the-scientist.com//?articles.view/articleNo/39117/title/Not-Seeing-is-Hearing-/
Petrus et al., Crossmodal Induction of Thalamocortical Potentiation Leads to Enhanced Information Processing in the Auditory Cortex, Neuron, Volume 81, Issue 3, p 664-673, 2014.
In the News:
NPR:
http://www.npr.org/2014/02/05/272092118/hard-of-hearing-a-few-days-in-the-dark-may-help
JHU HUB:
http://hub.jhu.edu/2014/02/05/blindness-hearing-loss
The Scientist:
http://www.the-scientist.com//?articles.view/articleNo/39117/title/Not-Seeing-is-Hearing-/