Effect of bilateral auditory cortex lesions on absolute thresholds in Japanese macaques

1. The behavioral audiograms of four Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) were assessed before and after receiving two-stage bilateral lesions of auditory cortex. Thresholds were assessed for each ear with the use of insertion earphones. 2. The bilateral lesions resulted in a large initial hearing loss followed by partial recovery that left the animals with a permanent hearing loss in both ears. 3. The initial hearing loss consisted of a total insensitivity to sound in the ear contralateral to the second lesion with limited hearing in the other ear. However, the animal with the most complete lesion was initially unable to hear sound in either ear. Broadband noise was often more effective in eliciting a behavioral response than tones. 4. Partial recovery occurred in all animals and was observed as early as the first week after surgery. Most of this recovery occurred during the first 3-7 wk after surgery. This rapid phase of recovery was sometimes followed by a more gradual phase although thresholds were still elevated after 94 wk. 5. The permanent hearing loss, which averaged from 30 to 44 dB, was not constant across frequency. Threshold shifts were smallest at 63 Hz and progressively increased with frequency to a maximum loss from 8 to 25 kHz with slightly less loss at 32 kHz. 6. Analysis of the psychophysical functions and threshold stability gave no indication of any nonsensory deficits in attention or vigilance. 7. These results, taken with those of previous experiments, indicate that each hemisphere is primarily involved in the detection of sound in the contralateral ear and secondarily involved in detection in the ipsilateral ear. This arrangement differs from that seen in sound localization where each hemisphere is involved with the contralateral hemifield as opposed to the contralateral ear. Thus it appears that the functional organization of auditory cortex for sound localization is different from that for the detection and identification of sound itself.