Degraded inferior colliculus responses to complex sounds in prenatally exposed VPA rats
Abstract Background Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often exhibit altered sensory processing and deficits in language development. Prenatal exposure to valproic acid (VPA) increases the risk for ASD and impairs both receptive and expressive language. Like individuals with ASD, roden...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s11689-023-09514-9 |
| _version_ | 1827388724573372416 |
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| author | Yuko Tamaoki Varun Pasapula Collin Chandler Michael S. Borland Olayinka I. Olajubutu Liza S. Tharakan Crystal T. Engineer |
| author_facet | Yuko Tamaoki Varun Pasapula Collin Chandler Michael S. Borland Olayinka I. Olajubutu Liza S. Tharakan Crystal T. Engineer |
| author_sort | Yuko Tamaoki |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often exhibit altered sensory processing and deficits in language development. Prenatal exposure to valproic acid (VPA) increases the risk for ASD and impairs both receptive and expressive language. Like individuals with ASD, rodents prenatally exposed to VPA exhibit degraded auditory cortical processing and abnormal neural activity to sounds. Disrupted neuronal morphology has been documented in earlier processing areas of the auditory pathway in VPA-exposed rodents, but there are no studies documenting early auditory pathway physiology. Therefore, the objective of this study is to characterize inferior colliculus (IC) responses to different sounds in rats prenatally exposed to VPA compared to saline-exposed rats. Methods In vivo extracellular multiunit recordings from the inferior colliculus were collected in response to tones, speech sounds, and noise burst trains. Results Our results indicate that the overall response to speech sounds was degraded in VPA-exposed rats compared to saline-exposed controls, but responses to tones and noise burst trains were unaltered. Conclusions These results are consistent with observations in individuals with autism that neural responses to complex sounds, like speech, are often altered, and lays the foundation for future studies of potential therapeutics to improve auditory processing in the VPA rat model of ASD. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T16:23:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-208153d0337242fd98517970d8645803 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1866-1955 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T16:23:04Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders |
| spelling | doaj.art-208153d0337242fd98517970d86458032024-01-07T12:11:40ZengBMCJournal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders1866-19552024-01-0116111410.1186/s11689-023-09514-9Degraded inferior colliculus responses to complex sounds in prenatally exposed VPA ratsYuko Tamaoki0Varun Pasapula1Collin Chandler2Michael S. Borland3Olayinka I. Olajubutu4Liza S. Tharakan5Crystal T. Engineer6School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at DallasSchool of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at DallasSchool of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at DallasSchool of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at DallasSchool of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at DallasSchool of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at DallasSchool of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at DallasAbstract Background Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often exhibit altered sensory processing and deficits in language development. Prenatal exposure to valproic acid (VPA) increases the risk for ASD and impairs both receptive and expressive language. Like individuals with ASD, rodents prenatally exposed to VPA exhibit degraded auditory cortical processing and abnormal neural activity to sounds. Disrupted neuronal morphology has been documented in earlier processing areas of the auditory pathway in VPA-exposed rodents, but there are no studies documenting early auditory pathway physiology. Therefore, the objective of this study is to characterize inferior colliculus (IC) responses to different sounds in rats prenatally exposed to VPA compared to saline-exposed rats. Methods In vivo extracellular multiunit recordings from the inferior colliculus were collected in response to tones, speech sounds, and noise burst trains. Results Our results indicate that the overall response to speech sounds was degraded in VPA-exposed rats compared to saline-exposed controls, but responses to tones and noise burst trains were unaltered. Conclusions These results are consistent with observations in individuals with autism that neural responses to complex sounds, like speech, are often altered, and lays the foundation for future studies of potential therapeutics to improve auditory processing in the VPA rat model of ASD.https://doi.org/10.1186/s11689-023-09514-9AutismAuditory processingInferior colliculusValproic acid |
| spellingShingle | Yuko Tamaoki Varun Pasapula Collin Chandler Michael S. Borland Olayinka I. Olajubutu Liza S. Tharakan Crystal T. Engineer Degraded inferior colliculus responses to complex sounds in prenatally exposed VPA rats Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders Autism Auditory processing Inferior colliculus Valproic acid |
| title | Degraded inferior colliculus responses to complex sounds in prenatally exposed VPA rats |
| title_full | Degraded inferior colliculus responses to complex sounds in prenatally exposed VPA rats |
| title_fullStr | Degraded inferior colliculus responses to complex sounds in prenatally exposed VPA rats |
| title_full_unstemmed | Degraded inferior colliculus responses to complex sounds in prenatally exposed VPA rats |
| title_short | Degraded inferior colliculus responses to complex sounds in prenatally exposed VPA rats |
| title_sort | degraded inferior colliculus responses to complex sounds in prenatally exposed vpa rats |
| topic | Autism Auditory processing Inferior colliculus Valproic acid |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s11689-023-09514-9 |
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