Projections from the medial geniculate body to primary auditory cortex in neonatally deafened cats

In the present study, anatomical projections from the medial geniculate body (MGB) to primary auditory cortex (AI) were investigated in normal adult cats and in animals that were neonatally deafened with the ototoxic drug amikacin. Cochleotopic/tonotopic maps in AI (based on neural response characteristic frequency) were obtained with microelectrode recording techniques, and single or multiple injections of retrograde tracers (horseradish peroxidase and fluorescent dyes) were introduced into AI. The AI maps of the amikacin-treated cats had an abnormal cochleotopic organization, such that deprived cortical areas exhibited an expanded representation of intact regions of the damaged cochlea. However, retrograde tracer injections into different regions of AI produced a normal pattern of labeling in the ventral division of the medial geniculate body (MGBv). In both experimental and control animals, the main mass of labeled thalamic cells was found in the MGBv. Different isofrequency contours in AI receive input from different portions of the MGBv. Thus, cell arrays labeled by anterior AI injections were situated medially in MGBv, and injections into posterior AI labeled MGBv more laterally. Furthermore, the deafened cats did not develop a more divergent thalamocortical projection compared with normal control animals, indicating that an abnormal spread of the thalamocortical afferents across the frequency domain in AI (anterior-posterior axis) is not responsible for the altered cochleotopic map in these neonatally deafened animals. The relatively normal thalamocortical projection pattern suggests that, after neonatal cochlear lesions, the major reorganization of cochleotopic maps occurs at subthalamic levels.