Rapid functional plasticity of the neurons in the inferior colliculus and dorsal cochlear nucleus after brief exposure to intense pure tone

The changes of response properties were observed from the single neuron in inferior colliculus (IC) and dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) located in the area bordering the lesion created by intense pure tone. The frequencies of traumatizing tone were chosen higher than the characteristic frequency (CF) of the neurons and beyond their excitatory response area so that the traumatizing tone would not influence the excitatory input to the neurons under study. Different types of disinhibition effects were found in more than half of the neurons after the traumatizing tone. The results indicated a subcortical origination of cortical functional reorganization and the involvement of lateral inhibition in the formation of inhibitory neural networks in both IC and DCN.