TY - JOUR
T1 - Vagus nerve stimulation paired with tones restores auditory processing in a rat model of Rett syndrome
AU - Adcock, Katherine S.
AU - Chandler, Collin
AU - Buell, Elizabeth P.
AU - Solorzano, Bleyda R.
AU - Loerwald, Kristofer W.
AU - Borland, Michael S.
AU - Engineer, Crystal T.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by a 2018 NARSAD Young Investigator Grant from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation and by the International Rett Syndrome Foundation . We would like to thank Lena Sadler and Matt Buell for vagus nerve cuff construction, Gabrielle Spurlin for assistance with breeding, and Abigail Berry and Jordan Chen for assistance with data collection.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s)
PY - 2020/11/1
Y1 - 2020/11/1
N2 - The study investigates the potential of using vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) paired with tones to improve auditory processing in rats with a genetic mutation related to Rett syndrome, a rare neurological disorder. Utilizing 17 female heterozygous Mecp2 rats (modeling Rett syndrome) and 8 female wild-type rats, researchers administered VNS-tone pairing therapy 300 times per day for 20 days, then examined the auditory cortex responses. The findings revealed that the Mecp2 mutation altered auditory cortex responses, but the VNS-tone pairing therapy improved the cortical response strength to both tones and speech sounds in Mecp2 rats compared to untreated ones. Additionally, the therapy enhanced the neural response's information content aiding in consonant sounds discrimination. Therefore, the study suggests that VNS-tone pairing could be a viable strategy to enhance auditory function in individuals with Rett syndrome.
AB - The study investigates the potential of using vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) paired with tones to improve auditory processing in rats with a genetic mutation related to Rett syndrome, a rare neurological disorder. Utilizing 17 female heterozygous Mecp2 rats (modeling Rett syndrome) and 8 female wild-type rats, researchers administered VNS-tone pairing therapy 300 times per day for 20 days, then examined the auditory cortex responses. The findings revealed that the Mecp2 mutation altered auditory cortex responses, but the VNS-tone pairing therapy improved the cortical response strength to both tones and speech sounds in Mecp2 rats compared to untreated ones. Additionally, the therapy enhanced the neural response's information content aiding in consonant sounds discrimination. Therefore, the study suggests that VNS-tone pairing could be a viable strategy to enhance auditory function in individuals with Rett syndrome.
KW - Auditory cortex
KW - Mecp2
KW - Plasticity
KW - Rett syndrome
KW - Vagal nerve stimulation
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U2 - 10.1016/j.brs.2020.08.006
DO - 10.1016/j.brs.2020.08.006
M3 - Article
C2 - 32800964
AN - SCOPUS:85090362316
SN - 1935-861X
VL - 13
SP - 1494
EP - 1503
JO - Brain Stimulation
JF - Brain Stimulation
IS - 6
ER -