Context-specific reweighting of auditory spatial cues following altered experience during development.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Neural systems must weight and integrate different sensory cues in order to make decisions. However, environmental conditions often change over time, altering the reliability of different cues and therefore the optimal way for combining them. To explore how cue integration develops in dynamic environments, we examined the effects on auditory spatial processing of rearing ferrets with localization cues that were modified via a unilateral earplug, interspersed with brief periods of normal hearing.

Results

In contrast with control animals, which rely primarily on timing and intensity differences between their two ears to localize sound sources, the juvenile-plugged ferrets developed the ability to localize sounds accurately by relying more on the unchanged spectral l

SUBMITTER: Keating P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3722484 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature