Visually evoked potentials (VEPs) across the visual field in hearing and deaf cats

Frontiers in Neuroscience

Neuroscience

Thomas Mitzelfelt¹  Paisley Barnes¹  Stephen G. Lomber²  Xiaohan Bao³ 

[1] Department of Physiology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada;Department of Physiology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada;Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada;Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada;

关键词: deafness;    hearing loss;    cross-modal plasticity;    cortical magnification;    EEG;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fnins.2023.997357

 received in 2022-07-18, accepted in 2023-01-24,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionCongenitally deaf cats perform better on visual localization tasks than hearing cats, and this advantage has been attributed to the posterior auditory field. Successful visual localization requires both visual processing of the target and timely generation of an action to approach the target. Activation of auditory cortex in deaf subjects during visual localization in the peripheral visual field can occur either via bottom-up stimulus-driven and/or top-down goal-directed pathways.MethodsIn this study, we recorded visually evoked potentials (VEPs) in response to a reversing checkerboard stimulus presented in the hemifield contralateral to the recorded hemisphere in both hearing and deaf cats under light anesthesia.ResultsAlthough VEP amplitudes and latencies were systematically modulated by stimulus eccentricity, we found little evidence of changes in VEP in deaf cats that can explain their behavioral advantage. A statistical trend was observed, showing larger peak amplitudes and shorter peak latencies in deaf subjects for stimuli in the near- and mid-peripheral field. Additionally, latency of the P1 wave component had a larger inter-sweep variation in deaf subjects.DiscussionOur results suggested that cross-modal plasticity following deafness does not play a major part in cortical processing of the peripheral visual field when the “vision for action” system is not recruited.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Mitzelfelt, Bao, Barnes and Lomber.