Perceptual training typically yields results that are both stimulus-specific and task-specific. Consequently, most studies on auditory training-induced plasticity in the adult brain have focused on sensory aspects in the auditory cortex, alone. Although auditory training is known to involve significant cognitive functioning outside of the auditory region, its affect on those regions has been unclear. However, in a recent study, Institute faculty Professor Xiaoming Zhou sheds new light on auditory training’s remarkable ability to impact cognitive functioning beyond the auditory system.
Published in the international journal Cerebral Cortex under the title "Auditory training remodels hippocampus-related memory in adult rats," Professor Zhou’s work demonstrates that auditory cue-based discrimination training substantially improves hippocampus-related memory behaviors in adult rats. Training also facilitates long-term potentiations, upregulates CaMKII phosphorylation level, and increases parvalbumin-expressing GABAergic interneurons in the hippocampus, indicating the broader impact of auditory training on the brain's neural circuitry. These results demonstrate an important generalization of training’s impact on brain functions and suggest the potential utility of auditory training as a therapeutic tool for enhancing both sensory and cognitive functions in older children and adults with conditions such as autism and schizophrenia, where sensory and cognitive dysfunction is prevalent.
Journal Reference
Jia, G., Suan, Y., An, P., Wu, W., Shen, Y., Liu, H, Shan, Y., Wang J., Lai C.S.W., Schreiner, C.E., He, H.*, & Zhou, X.*, (2024). Auditory training remodels hippocampus-related memory in adult rats. Cerebral Cortex, 34 (2): bhae045.
>> To read the article in Chinese at the School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, click here.