Environmental noise retards auditory cortical development

Science. 2003 Apr 18;300(5618):498-502. doi: 10.1126/science.1082163.

Abstract

The mammalian auditory cortex normally undergoes rapid and progressive functional maturation. Here we show that rearing infant rat pups in continuous, moderate-level noise delayed the emergence of adultlike topographic representational order and the refinement of response selectivity in the primary auditory cortex (A1) long beyond normal developmental benchmarks. When those noise-reared adult rats were subsequently exposed to a pulsed pure-tone stimulus, A1 rapidly reorganized, demonstrating that exposure-driven plasticity characteristic of the critical period was still ongoing. These results demonstrate that A1 organization is shaped by a young animal's exposure to salient, structured acoustic inputs-and implicate noise as a risk factor for abnormal child development.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Acoustic Stimulation
  • Animals
  • Animals, Newborn
  • Auditory Cortex / growth & development*
  • Auditory Cortex / physiology
  • Brain Mapping
  • Electrophysiology
  • Female
  • Neuronal Plasticity
  • Neurons / physiology*
  • Noise / adverse effects*
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Time Factors