Deoxyglucose demonstration of in-utero hearing in the guinea pig foetus

2-Deoxyglucose (2-[14C]DG) autoradiography was used to demonstrate central auditory function in the foetal guinea pig in-utero. The major advantage of this approach is that the experiment is carried out with the foetuses within the intact amniotic sac. Using pure tone stimuli at around 100 dB SPL, isofrequency bands of elevated metabolic activity were observed in the inferior colliculus of the majority of foetuses within the last 10 days of gestation.