Development of the VIIIth nerve compound action potential evoked by low-intensity tone pips in the Mongolian gerbil

Prolonged maturation of auditory perception and learning in gerbils

In humans, auditory perception reaches maturity over a broad age range, extending through adolescence. Despite this slow maturation, children are considered to be outstanding learners, suggesting that immature perceptual skills might actually be advantageous to improvement on an acoustic task as a result of training (perceptual learning). Previous non-human studies have not employed an identical task when comparing perceptual performance of young and mature subjects, making it difficult to assess learning. Here, we used an identical procedure on juvenile and adult gerbils to examine the perception of amplitude modulation (AM), a stimulus feature that is an important component of most natural sounds. On average, Adult animals could detect smaller fluctuations in amplitude (i.e., smaller modulation depths) than Juveniles, indicating immature perceptual skills in Juveniles. However, the population variance was much greater for Juveniles, a few animals displaying adult-like AM detection. To determine whether immature perceptual skills facilitated learning, we compared naïve performance on the AM detection task with the amount of improvement following additional training. The amount of improvement in Adults correlated with naïve performance: those with the poorest naïve performance improved the most. In contrast, the naïve performance of Juveniles did not predict the amount of learning. Those Juveniles with immature AM detection thresholds did not display greater learning than Adults. Furthermore, for several of the Juveniles with adult-like thresholds, AM detection deteriorated with repeated testing. Thus, immature perceptual skills in young animals were not associated with greater learning.

High-frequency sensitivity of the mature gerbil cochlea and its development

The thresholds of compound action potentials evoked by tone pips were measured in the cochleae of anesthetized gerbils, both in adults and in neonates aged 14, 16, 18, 20 and 30 days, using round-window electrodes. Stapes vibrations were also measured, using a laser velocimeter, in many of the same ears of adults and neonates aged 14, 16, 18 and 20 days to assess cochlear sensitivity in isolation from middle ear effects and to circumvent problems associated with calibration of acoustic stimuli at high frequencies. Whether referenced to sound pressure level in the ear canal or stapes vibration velocity, thresholds in adults were roughly uniform in the entire range of tested frequencies, 1.25-38.5 kHz. In neonates, thresholds decreased systematically as a function of age, with the largest reductions occurring at the highest frequencies. Thresholds remained slightly immature at all frequencies 30 days after birth. The results for adult gerbils are consistent with the recent finding that basilar-membrane responses to characteristic frequency tones normalized to stapes vibrations are as sensitive at sites near the round window as at more apical sites. The results for neonates confirm that the extreme basal region of the cochlea is the last to approach maturity, with substantial development occurring between 20 and 30 days after birth.

Development of single- and two-tone responses of anteroventral cochlear nucleus neurons in gerbil

Responses of anteroventral cochlear nucleus (AVCN) neurons in developing gerbils were obtained to single-tone stimuli, and two-tone stimuli elicited by best frequency probes presented over a range of intensities. Neurons displayed Type I, Type I/III, and Type III receptive field patterns. Best frequencies ranged from 1.5 to 10.0 kHz. Two-tone suppression (2TS) was first observed in 5 of 16 neurons examined at 14 dab. and in all neurons examined in gerbils aged 15 to 60 dab. Suppression areas grew larger, and discharge rate reductions became greater with age. Features of the two-tone responses that were highly correlated with single-tone responses across age groups include maximum rate reductions and suppression area thresholds. The intensity level of the CF probe-tone also influenced these features of 2TS. Maximum rate reductions to below spontaneous rate levels of activity were common across age groups. Results suggest that the cochlear amplifier is present and fundamentally adult-like by 15 dab for the regions of the cochlea coding the mid frequencies in gerbil. Over the subsequent week, contributions to the developing two-tone responses by the cochlear amplifier increase slightly. Two-tone responses are influenced by central inhibitory mechanisms as early as 14 dab.

In vitro induction of microcyst-like structures in the superior olivary complex

To investigate the etiology of hole formation in the gerbil and rat central auditory system, organotypic cultures were grown in control and veratridine-containing media. The latter condition is known to increase neuronal activity. Tissue was obtained at postnatal day 6 and grown for 6-9 days in vitro, a period prior to the formation of holes in vivo. In both rats and gerbils, veratridine led to the appearance of large numbers of holes, and these were phenotypically similar to those found in vivo. These results support the idea that hole formation is an activity-dependent phenomenon, and suggest that it is not restricted to the mature gerbil auditory system.