M. Frenkel et al., Neocortical ectopias are associated with attenuated neurophysiological responses to rapidly changing auditory stimuli, NEUROREPORT, 11(3), 2000, pp. 575-579
Developmental dyslexia has been separately associated with the presence of
ectopic collections of neurons in layer I of neocortex (ectopias) and with
alterations in processing rapidly changing stimuli. We have used BXSB/MpJ-Y
aa mice, some of which have neocortical ectopias, to directly test the hypo
thesis that ectopias may alter auditory processing. Auditory event related
potentials (AERPs) were elicited by pairs of 10.5 kHz tones separated by si
lence, 0.99 kHz, or 5.6 kHz tones of variable duration. Half of the mice te
sted had 1-3 ectopias in frontal or parietal cortex, and half had no ectopi
as. Mice with ectopias showed a reduced response to the second 10.5 kHz sti
muli only when it was preceded by short duration 5.6 kHz tones. These resul
ts indicate that BXSB mice are an excellent model for determining how focal
neocortical anomalies alter sensory processing. NeuroReport 11:575-579 (C)
2000 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.