Pharmacological modulation of learning-induced plasticity in human auditory cortex.

PURPOSE Converging evidence from animals and humans indicate that the primary auditory cortex is continuously reshaped in an experience-dependent way. Reorganisation in primary auditory cortex can be observed at the level of receptive fields, topographic maps and brain activations measured with neuroimaging methods. Several neuromodulatory systems were shown to contribute to such an experience-dependent reorganization. METHODS This paper reviews evidence addressing the cholinergic, noradrenergic, dopaminergic and serotonergic modulation of learning-, experience-, and injury-induced plasticity in the auditory cortex. RESULTS Regarding learning-induced plasticity in the auditory cortex most studies have investigated the role of the cholinergic system and shown that ACh is essential for this form of rapid plasticity. Nevertheless there is also evidence that the catecholamines dopamine and noradrenaline might contribute to learning- and experience-induced changes in the auditory cortex. CONCLUSIONS I suggest, that the available experimental data on cholinergic and noradrenergic modulation of plasticity offers a promising basis for potential pharmacological interventions to aid recovery of aural functions.