Spine formation and maturation in the developing rat auditory cortex

Perceptual learning in the developing auditory cortex.

A hallmark of the developing auditory cortex is the heightened plasticity in the critical period, during which acoustic inputs can indelibly alter cortical function. However, not all sounds in the natural acoustic environment are ethologically relevant. How does the auditory system resolve relevant sounds from the acoustic environment in such an early developmental stage when most associative l...

DSCAM contributes to dendrite arborization and spine formation in the developing cerebral cortex.

Down syndrome cell adhesion molecule, or DSCAM, has been implicated in many neurodevelopmental processes including axon guidance, dendrite arborization, and synapse formation. Here we show that DSCAM plays an important role in regulating the morphogenesis of cortical pyramidal neurons in the mouse. We report that DSCAM expression is developmentally regulated and localizes to synaptic plasma mem...

Meg Induced Activation Measures in Describing Auditory Cortex Maturation

Iron deficiency disrupts axon maturation of the developing auditory nerve.

Iron is critical in multiple aspects of CNS development, but its role in neurodevelopment--the ability of iron deficiency to alter normal development--is difficult to dissociate from the effects of anemia. We developed a novel dietary restriction model in the rat that allows us to study the effects of iron deficiency in the absence of severe anemia. Using a combination of auditory brainstem res...

Anatomical identification of primary auditory cortex in the developing gerbil

Cortical development is an active field of study. The gerbil provides an excellent model for research because at the moment of birth its brain is rather immature, anatomically and functionally. Furthermore, the gerbil auditory cortex is particularly amenable to investigation in that the gerbil’s onset of hearing occurs approximately after 14 days of postnatal life. Despite these advantages of t...