Brain-wide mapping of neuroanatomical connections to the auditory cortex of hearing and deaf mice

Abstract

Remarkable therapeutic innovations have made it possible to establish hearing in congenitally deaf subjects. Despite these advances, a potential obstacle to restoring auditory function is that the absence of auditory experience alters the connectivity of the auditory cortex, a region that contributes to auditory perception and cognition. Here we used an intersectional genetic approach to map the brainwide inputs to the primary auditory cortex of congenitally deaf mice and their hearing littermates. We found that deaf mice displayed a significant reduction in afferents arising from the basomedial amygdala, the core of the medial geniculate nucleus, and anterior auditory thalamic nuclei. Nonetheless, major aspects of auditory cortical connectivity, including input from other thalamic nuclei and from non-auditory regions of the cortex, were unaffected by deafness. These findings highlight altered and preserved connectivity of the auditory cortex in the absence of auditory experience, which may inform therapies designed to establish hearing in congenitally deaf subjects.