Corticofugal reorganization of the midbrain tonotopic map in mice

J Yan, G Ehret - Neuroreport, 2001 - journals.lww.com
Previous studies have indicated that frequency maps (tonotopies) in mammalian auditory
brain centers are plastic. Here, we examined this plasticity in the mouse auditory midbrain
through focal stimulation of the primary auditory cortex. Cortical activation shifted midbrain
frequency tunings toward the best frequencies of the stimulated cortical neurons if these
were either higher or lower than the cortical ones. Such corticofugal adjustments appear to
minimize the difference between cortical and collicular frequency tuning within the critical …