Research article summary (published 7 Mar 2005):

Plasticity in primary auditory cortex of monkeys with altered vocal production.

Full Abstract

Response properties of primary auditory cortical neurons in the adult common marmoset monkey (Callithrix jacchus) were modified by extensive exposure to altered vocalizations that were self-generated and rehearsed frequently. A laryngeal apparatus modification procedure permanently lowered the frequency content of the native twitter call, a complex communication vocalization consisting of a series of frequency modulation (FM) sweeps. Monkeys vocalized shortly after this procedure and maintained voicing efforts until physiological evaluation 5-15 months later. The altered twitter calls improved over time, with FM sweeps approaching but never reaching the normal spectral range. Neurons with characteristic frequencies <4.3 kHz that had been weakly activated by native twitter calls were recruited to encode self-uttered altered twitter vocalizations. These neurons showed a decrease in response magnitude and an increase in temporal dispersion of response timing to twitter call and parametric FM stimuli but a normal response profile to pure tone stimuli. Tonotopic maps in voice-modified monkeys were not distorted. These findings suggest a previously unrecognized form of cortical plasticity that is specific to higher-order processes involved in the discrimination of more complex sounds, such as species-specific vocalizations.

Author information

Author/s: Cheung, Steven W (SW); Nagarajan, Srikantan S (SS); Schreiner, Christoph E (CE); Bedenbaugh, Purvis H (PH); Wong, Andrew (A);

Affiliation: Coleman Memorial Laboratory and W. M. Keck Center for Integrative Neuroscience, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143-0342, USA. scheung(-atsign-)ohns.ucsf.edu

Grants: NS 34835 (Agency:NINDS NIH HHS) ; R01 DC002260-10 (Agency:NIDCD NIH HHS) ; R01 DC006435-01A1 (Agency:NIDCD NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

Journal: The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience (J Neurosci), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2005-Mar; vol 25 (issue 10) : pp 2490-503

Dates: Created 2005/03/10; Completed 2006/03/02; Revised 2008/05/19;

PMID: 15758157, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Acoustic Stimulation - methods Animals Auditory Cortex - physiology Auditory Perception - physiology

Callithrix Learning - physiology Neuronal Plasticity - physiology Vocalization, Animal - physiology

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