Adult plasticity in the subcortical auditory pathway of the maternal mouse.

Subcortical auditory nuclei were traditionally viewed as non-plastic in adulthood so that acoustic information could be stably conveyed to higher auditory areas. Studies in a variety of species, including humans, now suggest that prolonged acoustic training can drive long-lasting brainstem plasticit...

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Main Authors: Jason A Miranda, Kathryn N Shepard, Shannon K McClintock, Robert C Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2014-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4081580?pdf=render
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spelling doaj-f2ae249d49c349c4bb000b4d1e531c212020-11-25T02:15:27ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032014-01-0197e10163010.1371/journal.pone.0101630Adult plasticity in the subcortical auditory pathway of the maternal mouse.Jason A MirandaKathryn N ShepardShannon K McClintockRobert C LiuSubcortical auditory nuclei were traditionally viewed as non-plastic in adulthood so that acoustic information could be stably conveyed to higher auditory areas. Studies in a variety of species, including humans, now suggest that prolonged acoustic training can drive long-lasting brainstem plasticity. The neurobiological mechanisms for such changes are not well understood in natural behavioral contexts due to a relative dearth of in vivo animal models in which to study this. Here, we demonstrate in a mouse model that a natural life experience with increased demands on the auditory system - motherhood - is associated with improved temporal processing in the subcortical auditory pathway. We measured the auditory brainstem response to test whether mothers and pup-naïve virgin mice differed in temporal responses to both broadband and tone stimuli, including ultrasonic frequencies found in mouse pup vocalizations. Mothers had shorter latencies for early ABR peaks, indicating plasticity in the auditory nerve and the cochlear nucleus. Shorter interpeak latency between waves IV and V also suggest plasticity in the inferior colliculus. Hormone manipulations revealed that these cannot be explained solely by estrogen levels experienced during pregnancy and parturition in mothers. In contrast, we found that pup-care experience, independent of pregnancy and parturition, contributes to shortening auditory brainstem response latencies. These results suggest that acoustic experience in the maternal context imparts plasticity on early auditory processing that lasts beyond pup weaning. In addition to establishing an animal model for exploring adult auditory brainstem plasticity in a neuroethological context, our results have broader implications for models of perceptual, behavioral and neural changes that arise during maternity, where subcortical sensorineural plasticity has not previously been considered.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4081580?pdf=render
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Jason A Miranda
Kathryn N Shepard
Shannon K McClintock
Robert C Liu
spellingShingle Jason A Miranda
Kathryn N Shepard
Shannon K McClintock
Robert C Liu
Adult plasticity in the subcortical auditory pathway of the maternal mouse.
PLoS ONE
author_facet Jason A Miranda
Kathryn N Shepard
Shannon K McClintock
Robert C Liu
author_sort Jason A Miranda
title Adult plasticity in the subcortical auditory pathway of the maternal mouse.
title_short Adult plasticity in the subcortical auditory pathway of the maternal mouse.
title_full Adult plasticity in the subcortical auditory pathway of the maternal mouse.
title_fullStr Adult plasticity in the subcortical auditory pathway of the maternal mouse.
title_full_unstemmed Adult plasticity in the subcortical auditory pathway of the maternal mouse.
title_sort adult plasticity in the subcortical auditory pathway of the maternal mouse.
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
series PLoS ONE
issn 1932-6203
publishDate 2014-01-01
description Subcortical auditory nuclei were traditionally viewed as non-plastic in adulthood so that acoustic information could be stably conveyed to higher auditory areas. Studies in a variety of species, including humans, now suggest that prolonged acoustic training can drive long-lasting brainstem plasticity. The neurobiological mechanisms for such changes are not well understood in natural behavioral contexts due to a relative dearth of in vivo animal models in which to study this. Here, we demonstrate in a mouse model that a natural life experience with increased demands on the auditory system - motherhood - is associated with improved temporal processing in the subcortical auditory pathway. We measured the auditory brainstem response to test whether mothers and pup-naïve virgin mice differed in temporal responses to both broadband and tone stimuli, including ultrasonic frequencies found in mouse pup vocalizations. Mothers had shorter latencies for early ABR peaks, indicating plasticity in the auditory nerve and the cochlear nucleus. Shorter interpeak latency between waves IV and V also suggest plasticity in the inferior colliculus. Hormone manipulations revealed that these cannot be explained solely by estrogen levels experienced during pregnancy and parturition in mothers. In contrast, we found that pup-care experience, independent of pregnancy and parturition, contributes to shortening auditory brainstem response latencies. These results suggest that acoustic experience in the maternal context imparts plasticity on early auditory processing that lasts beyond pup weaning. In addition to establishing an animal model for exploring adult auditory brainstem plasticity in a neuroethological context, our results have broader implications for models of perceptual, behavioral and neural changes that arise during maternity, where subcortical sensorineural plasticity has not previously been considered.
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4081580?pdf=render
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