Sensory deprivation leads to subpopulation‐specific changes in layer 6 corticothalamic cells

Sensory neocortex is capable of considerable plasticity after sensory deprivation or damage to input pathways, especially early in development. Although plasticity can often be restorative, sometimes novel, ectopic inputs invade the affected cortical area. Invading inputs from other sensory modalities may compromise the original function or even take over, imposing a new function and preventing recovery. Using ferrets whose retinal axons were rerouted into auditory thalamus at birth, we were able to examine the effect of varying the degree of ectopic, cross-modal input on reorganization of developing auditory cortex. In particular, we assayed whether the invading visual inputs and the existing auditory inputs competed for or shared postsynaptic targets and whether the convergence of input modalities would induce multisensory processing. We demonstrate that although the cross-modal inputs create new visual neurons in auditory cortex, some auditory processing remains. The degree of damage to auditory input to the medial geniculate nucleus was directly related to the proportion of visual neurons in auditory cortex, suggesting that the visual and residual auditory inputs compete for cortical territory. Visual neurons were not segregated from auditory neurons but shared target space even on individual target cells, substantially increasing the proportion of multisensory neurons. Thus spatial convergence of visual and auditory input modalities may be sufficient to expand multisensory representations. Together these findings argue that early, patterned visual activity does not drive segregation of visual and auditory afferents and suggest that auditory function might be compromised by converging visual inputs. These results indicate possible ways in which multisensory cortical areas may form during development and evolution. They also suggest that rehabilitative strategies designed to promote recovery of function after sensory deprivation or damage need to take into account that sensory cortex may become substantially more multisensory after alteration of its input during development.

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Assessment of common housekeeping genes as reference for gene expression studies using RT-qPCR in mouse choroid plexus

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-82800-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Kim Hoa Ho ◽

Annarita Patrizi

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Choroid Plexus ◽

Sensory Deprivation ◽

Housekeeping Genes ◽

Housekeeping Gene ◽

Experimental Conditions ◽

Brain Repair ◽

Expression Studies ◽

Testing Algorithms ◽

Gene Expression Studies

AbstractChoroid plexus (ChP), a vascularized secretory epithelium located in all brain ventricles, plays critical roles in development, homeostasis and brain repair. Reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) is a popular and useful technique for measuring gene expression changes and also widely used in ChP studies. However, the reliability of RT-qPCR data is strongly dependent on the choice of reference genes, which are supposed to be stable across all samples. In this study, we validated the expression of 12 well established housekeeping genes in ChP in 2 independent experimental paradigms by using popular stability testing algorithms: BestKeeper, DeltaCq, geNorm and NormFinder. Rer1 and Rpl13a were identified as the most stable genes throughout mouse ChP development, while Hprt1 and Rpl27 were the most stable genes across conditions in a mouse sensory deprivation experiment. In addition, Rpl13a, Rpl27 and Tbp were mutually among the top five most stable genes in both experiments. Normalisation of Ttr and Otx2 expression levels using different housekeeping gene combinations demonstrated the profound effect of reference gene choice on target gene expression. Our study emphasized the importance of validating and selecting stable housekeeping genes under specific experimental conditions.

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Sensory Loss and Delirium Among Medicare Beneficiaries

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.2890 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 797-797

Author(s):

Emmanuel Garcia Morales ◽

Nicholas Reed

Keyword(s):

Claims Data ◽

Sensory Deprivation ◽

Vision Impairment ◽

Sensory Loss ◽

Future Research ◽

Sensory Impairment ◽

Medicare Beneficiaries ◽

Increase Risk ◽

The Impact ◽

Dual Sensory Impairment

Abstract Sensory impairment is prevalent among older adults and may increase risk for delirium via mechanisms including sensory deprivation and poor communication which may result in confusion and agitation. In the Medicare Current Beneficiary Study (MCBS), delirium was measured using a validated algorithm of claims data. Sensory impairment was defined as any self-reported trouble hearing or seeing, with the use of aids, and was categorized as no impairment, hearing impairment only (HI), vision impairment only (VI), and dual sensory impairment (DSI). Among, 3,240 hospitalized participants in 2016-2017, 346 (10.7%) experienced delirium. In a model adjusted for socio-demographic and health characteristics, those with HI only, VI only, and DSI had 0.84 (95% CI: 0.6-1.3), 1.1 (95% CI 0.7-1.7), and 1.5 (95% CI 1.0-2.1) times the odds of experiencing delirium compared to those without sensory impairment. Future research should focus on mechanisms underlying association and determine the impact of treatment of sensory loss.

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Nature of fetal adaptation to the uterine environment: a problem of sensory deprivation

American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology ◽

10.1016/0002-9378(62)90704-4 ◽

1962 ◽

Vol 83 (6) ◽

pp. 800-808 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

S.R.M. Reynolds

Keyword(s):

Sensory Deprivation ◽

Uterine Environment

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