Sound-seeking before and after hearing loss in mice
Jessica Mai1, Rowan Gargiullo1, Megan Zheng1
1Department of Neurosurgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta GA 30322.
Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|January 23, 2024
Summary
Mice can learn to track sound sources using movement. Even with permanent hearing damage, they adapt their strategies to recover sound-seeking abilities.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Auditory Perception
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Body movement influences sound perception and aids in locating sound sources.
- Auditory experiments often restrict movement, limiting understanding of its role in hearing.
- Compensatory head movements can mitigate hearing loss.
Approach:
- Developed a 'sound-seeking' behavioral task rewarding mice for tracking sound sources.
- Investigated the impact of hearing loss (bilateral and unilateral) on auditory behavior.
- Assessed performance on sound-seeking and auditory startle response after induced hearing loss.
Key Points:
- Bilateral hearing loss abolished the auditory startle response and severely impaired sound-seeking task performance.
- Unilateral hearing loss transiently impaired sound-seeking but mice recovered performance within a week.
- Mice with unilateral hearing loss adapted by employing different spatial sampling strategies.
Conclusions:
- The study demonstrates resilient adaptation to peripheral auditory system damage.
- Body movement plays a crucial role in auditory perception and recovery from hearing loss.
- The sound-seeking paradigm offers insights into how movement facilitates hearing and adaptation to sensory deficits.
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