Biomaterial Database

Substitution of visual by auditory inputs in the cat's anterior ectosylvian cortex. 1996

J P Rauschecker

Georgetown Institute for Cognitive and Computational Sciences, Washington, DC 20007-2197, USA.

Long-term visual deprivation from birth leads to reorganization of the anterior ectosylvian region of the cat's cortex. A visual area in the fundus of AES, area AEV, in which neurons normally respond briskly to visual stimuli, is taken over almost completely by auditory and somatosensory inputs. Auditory neurons are sharply tuned to the location of a sound source in azimuth. A higher than normal proportion of neurons in the AES of visually deprived cats responds to multimodal stimuli. Takeover of visual regions by non-visual inputs can be explained by the same mechanisms that are invoked for developmental plasticity within the visual system: neural activity and competition between different inputs leads to changes in synaptic efficacy. Additional sprouting cannot be excluded. The radical changes of sensory modality within the AEs, caused by visual deprivation, suggest that the same code is used by visual, auditory and somatosensory maps in this region to represent the sensory environment and lead to sensorimotor transformation.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D002415	Cats	The domestic cat, Felis catus, of the carnivore family FELIDAE, comprising over 30 different breeds. The domestic cat is descended primarily from the wild cat of Africa and extreme southwestern Asia. Though probably present in towns in Palestine as long ago as 7000 years, actual domestication occurred in Egypt about 4000 years ago. (From Walker's Mammals of the World, 6th ed, p801)	Felis catus,Felis domesticus,Domestic Cats,Felis domestica,Felis sylvestris catus,Cat,Cat, Domestic,Cats, Domestic,Domestic Cat
D002540	Cerebral Cortex	The thin layer of GRAY MATTER on the surface of the CEREBRAL HEMISPHERES that develops from the TELENCEPHALON and folds into gyri and sulci. It reaches its highest development in humans and is responsible for intellectual faculties and higher mental functions.	Allocortex,Archipallium,Cortex Cerebri,Cortical Plate,Paleocortex,Periallocortex,Allocortices,Archipalliums,Cerebral Cortices,Cortex Cerebrus,Cortex, Cerebral,Cortical Plates,Paleocortices,Periallocortices,Plate, Cortical
D005072	Evoked Potentials, Auditory	The electric response evoked in the CEREBRAL CORTEX by ACOUSTIC STIMULATION or stimulation of the AUDITORY PATHWAYS.	Auditory Evoked Potentials,Auditory Evoked Response,Auditory Evoked Potential,Auditory Evoked Responses,Evoked Potential, Auditory,Evoked Response, Auditory,Evoked Responses, Auditory,Potentials, Auditory Evoked
D005073	Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory	The electric response evoked in the CEREBRAL CORTEX by stimulation along AFFERENT PATHWAYS from PERIPHERAL NERVES to CEREBRUM.	Somatosensory Evoked Potentials,Evoked Potential, Somatosensory,Somatosensory Evoked Potential
D005074	Evoked Potentials, Visual	The electric response evoked in the cerebral cortex by visual stimulation or stimulation of the visual pathways.	Visual Evoked Response,Evoked Potential, Visual,Evoked Response, Visual,Evoked Responses, Visual,Potential, Visual Evoked,Potentials, Visual Evoked,Response, Visual Evoked,Responses, Visual Evoked,Visual Evoked Potential,Visual Evoked Potentials,Visual Evoked Responses
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D012683	Sensory Deprivation	The absence or restriction of the usual external sensory stimuli to which the individual responds.	Deprivation, Sensory,Deprivations, Sensory,Sensory Deprivations