Anna Majewska, Ph.D.

The Research

University of Rochester

Cortical synaptic plasticity in a mouse model of moderate sensorineural hearing loss

The development of cortical networks is exquisitely sensitive to patterned activity elicited through sensory stimulation. Although much is known about somatosensory and visual cortical development, very little is known about the development of auditory cortex network connectivity. Changes in hearing that occur as a result of defects in sensation at the cochlea likely affect the development of higher brain areas which process auditory information. Our research will explore changes in the neural networks that process auditory stimuli in the cortex in a mouse model where prestin, a protein crucial for outer hair cell electromotile function is absent during development. We will address this question by looking at synaptic sites which link individual neurons into networks and compare their density, distribution and dynamic remodeling in control and prestin-null mice. We hypothesize that changes in both static and dynamic synaptic structure will be present in the auditory cortex of prestin-null mice, suggesting that cortical auditory networks are altered by degraded hearing during development. This work will shed light on synaptic mechanisms and possible treatments of developmentally acquired hearing loss.