Pairing Speech Sounds With Vagus Nerve Stimulation Drives Stimulus-specific Cortical Plasticity

Background: Individuals with communication disorders, such as aphasia, exhibit weak auditory cortex responses to speech sounds and language impairments. Previous studies have demonstrated that pairing vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) with tones or tone trains can enhance both the spectral and temporal...

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Main Authors: Crystal T. Engineer, Navzer D. Engineer, Jonathan R. Riley, Jonathan D. Seale, Michael P. Kilgard
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2015-05-01
Series:Brain Stimulation
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1935861X15008712
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spelling doaj-495c352d53314bdaa48cb1bf0d730aef2021-03-18T04:41:00ZengElsevierBrain Stimulation1935-861X2015-05-0183637644Pairing Speech Sounds With Vagus Nerve Stimulation Drives Stimulus-specific Cortical PlasticityCrystal T. Engineer0Navzer D. Engineer1Jonathan R. Riley2Jonathan D. Seale3Michael P. Kilgard4School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, 800 West Campbell Road GR41, Richardson, TX 75080, USA; Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 972 883 2376; fax: +1 972 883 2491.School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, 800 West Campbell Road GR41, Richardson, TX 75080, USA; MicroTransponder Inc., 2802 Flintrock Trace Suite 225, Austin, TX 78738, USASchool of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, 800 West Campbell Road GR41, Richardson, TX 75080, USASchool of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, 800 West Campbell Road GR41, Richardson, TX 75080, USASchool of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, 800 West Campbell Road GR41, Richardson, TX 75080, USA; Texas Biomedical Device Center, The University of Texas at Dallas, 800 West Campbell Road EC39, Richardson, TX 75080, USABackground: Individuals with communication disorders, such as aphasia, exhibit weak auditory cortex responses to speech sounds and language impairments. Previous studies have demonstrated that pairing vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) with tones or tone trains can enhance both the spectral and temporal processing of sounds in auditory cortex, and can be used to reverse pathological primary auditory cortex (A1) plasticity in a rodent model of chronic tinnitus. Objective/hypothesis: We predicted that pairing VNS with speech sounds would strengthen the A1 response to the paired speech sounds. Methods: The speech sounds ‘rad’ and ‘lad’ were paired with VNS three hundred times per day for twenty days. A1 responses to both paired and novel speech sounds were recorded 24 h after the last VNS pairing session in anesthetized rats. Response strength, latency and neurometric decoding were compared between VNS speech paired and control rats. Results: Our results show that VNS paired with speech sounds strengthened the auditory cortex response to the paired sounds, but did not strengthen the amplitude of the response to novel speech sounds. Responses to the paired sounds were faster and less variable in VNS speech paired rats compared to control rats. Neural plasticity that was specific to the frequency, intensity, and temporal characteristics of the paired speech sounds resulted in enhanced neural detection. Conclusion: VNS speech sound pairing provides a novel method to enhance speech sound processing in the central auditory system. Delivery of VNS during speech therapy could improve outcomes in individuals with receptive language deficits.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1935861X15008712SpeechPrimary auditory cortexPlasticityVagal nerve stimulation
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Crystal T. Engineer
Navzer D. Engineer
Jonathan R. Riley
Jonathan D. Seale
Michael P. Kilgard
spellingShingle Crystal T. Engineer
Navzer D. Engineer
Jonathan R. Riley
Jonathan D. Seale
Michael P. Kilgard
Pairing Speech Sounds With Vagus Nerve Stimulation Drives Stimulus-specific Cortical Plasticity
Brain Stimulation
Speech
Primary auditory cortex
Plasticity
Vagal nerve stimulation
author_facet Crystal T. Engineer
Navzer D. Engineer
Jonathan R. Riley
Jonathan D. Seale
Michael P. Kilgard
author_sort Crystal T. Engineer
title Pairing Speech Sounds With Vagus Nerve Stimulation Drives Stimulus-specific Cortical Plasticity
title_short Pairing Speech Sounds With Vagus Nerve Stimulation Drives Stimulus-specific Cortical Plasticity
title_full Pairing Speech Sounds With Vagus Nerve Stimulation Drives Stimulus-specific Cortical Plasticity
title_fullStr Pairing Speech Sounds With Vagus Nerve Stimulation Drives Stimulus-specific Cortical Plasticity
title_full_unstemmed Pairing Speech Sounds With Vagus Nerve Stimulation Drives Stimulus-specific Cortical Plasticity
title_sort pairing speech sounds with vagus nerve stimulation drives stimulus-specific cortical plasticity
publisher Elsevier
series Brain Stimulation
issn 1935-861X
publishDate 2015-05-01
description Background: Individuals with communication disorders, such as aphasia, exhibit weak auditory cortex responses to speech sounds and language impairments. Previous studies have demonstrated that pairing vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) with tones or tone trains can enhance both the spectral and temporal processing of sounds in auditory cortex, and can be used to reverse pathological primary auditory cortex (A1) plasticity in a rodent model of chronic tinnitus. Objective/hypothesis: We predicted that pairing VNS with speech sounds would strengthen the A1 response to the paired speech sounds. Methods: The speech sounds ‘rad’ and ‘lad’ were paired with VNS three hundred times per day for twenty days. A1 responses to both paired and novel speech sounds were recorded 24 h after the last VNS pairing session in anesthetized rats. Response strength, latency and neurometric decoding were compared between VNS speech paired and control rats. Results: Our results show that VNS paired with speech sounds strengthened the auditory cortex response to the paired sounds, but did not strengthen the amplitude of the response to novel speech sounds. Responses to the paired sounds were faster and less variable in VNS speech paired rats compared to control rats. Neural plasticity that was specific to the frequency, intensity, and temporal characteristics of the paired speech sounds resulted in enhanced neural detection. Conclusion: VNS speech sound pairing provides a novel method to enhance speech sound processing in the central auditory system. Delivery of VNS during speech therapy could improve outcomes in individuals with receptive language deficits.
topic Speech
Primary auditory cortex
Plasticity
Vagal nerve stimulation
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1935861X15008712
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