Early APV chronic blocked alters experience-dependent plasticity of auditory spatial representation in rat auditory cortical neurons

Development of auditory function can be affected by environment and experience. In this study, we investigated whether the NMDA receptor mediates the plasticity of auditory spatial representation during development of the rat auditory cortex. We found that early auditory experience significantly increased the auditory spatial sensitivity of A1 neurons and induced training-dependent plasticity. Implantation of Elvax-APV in the auditory cortex gradually reduced the auditory spatial sensitivity of A1 neurons and blocked the auditory spatial plasticity induced by early auditory experience. These results indicate that the NMDA receptor has a key role in experience-dependent plasticity of auditory cortical circuits immediately after birth.