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Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation affects auditory cortex plasticity in normal-hearing and noise-exposed rats
- Source :
- Brain Stimulation, Vol 11, Iss 5, Pp 1008-1023 (2018)
- Publication Year :
- 2018
- Publisher :
- Elsevier BV, 2018.
-
Abstract
- Background Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive tool capable to modulate cortical functions by affecting neuronal excitability and synaptic plasticity. Objective Here we investigated the effects of anodal tDCS on auditory cortex (ACx) in normal-hearing rats and following a paradigm of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), that causes morphological alterations in ACx pyramidal neurons. Methods Male rats exposed to intense pure tone (10 kHz) were subsequently subjected to unilateral anodal tDCS of ACx and changes in dendritic morphology and spines were assessed by Golgi-Cox staining 30 days after the onset of the acoustic trauma. Molecular and functional changes were investigated by Western immunoblotting, immunofluorescence experiments and electrophysiological recordings in brain slices. Results We found that NIHL altered dendritic morphology by decreasing spine density, mostly in layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons. Interestingly, tDCS increased ACx spine density, targeting apical dendrites of layer 2/3 and 5/6 pyramidal neurons in rats with normal auditory function and both apical and basal arborizations in layer 2/3 of NIHL rats. Twenty-four hours after tDCS, Bdnf and synaptophysin levels in ACx increased both in normal-hearing and noise-exposed rats. Field recordings showed that basal synaptic transmission at layer 2/3 horizontal connections was significantly reduced in noise-exposed rats compared to normal-hearing animals and, notably, input-output curves of noise-exposed animals subjected to tDCS were similar to those of normal-hearing rats. Conclusions Our findings provide novel evidence that anodal tDCS affects structural plasticity in the ACx suggesting that it might be beneficial in treating cortical alterations due to cochlear damage.
- Subjects :
- Male
0301 basic medicine
Dendritic spine
Settore BIO/09 - FISIOLOGIA
medicine.medical_treatment
Biophysics
Neurotransmission
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
Auditory cortex
tDCS
lcsh:RC321-571
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Hearing
otorhinolaryngologic diseases
medicine
Animals
auditory cortex
synaptic transmission
Rats, Wistar
Electrodes
lcsh:Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor
Neuronal Plasticity
biology
Transcranial direct-current stimulation
Chemistry
Pyramidal Cells
General Neuroscience
brain-derived neurotrophic factor
Dendrites
dendritic spines
personalized medicine
Rats
Electrophysiology
030104 developmental biology
Synaptic plasticity
Synaptophysin
biology.protein
Neurology (clinical)
Noise
Neuroscience
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 1935861X
- Volume :
- 11
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Brain Stimulation
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....703caadd5bc5be2f958b88f57cc307f1