美国纽约大学医学院Robert C. Froemke等研究人员合作发现，蓝斑核活动改善人工耳蜗的性能。这一研究成果于2022年12月21日在线发表在国际学术期刊《自然》上。
研究人员表示，人工耳蜗（CI）是可以为聋人提供听力的神经修复装置。尽管CI提供了很多好处，但在长期使用CI后，听力恢复的时间和感知的准确性仍有很大的差异。CI的使用被认为需要中枢听觉系统的神经可塑性，而神经可塑性机制的不同参与可能导致结果的变化。尽管对CI如何激活听觉系统进行了广泛的研究，但对CI相关神经可塑性的理解仍然有限。促成可塑性的一个有力因素是来自脑干蓝斑核（LC）的神经调节剂去甲肾上腺素。
研究人员报道了装有多通道CI的耳聋大鼠在LC和听觉皮层的行为反应和神经活动。大鼠接受了基于奖励的听觉任务的训练，并在学习率和最大表现方面表现出相当大的个体差异。LC的光度预测了CI受试者何时开始对声音做出反应以及长期的感知准确性。光遗传LC刺激产生更快的学习和更高的长期准确性。听觉皮层对CI刺激的反应反映了行为表现，对有奖刺激的反应增强，对无奖刺激的区分度降低。因此，中枢神经调节系统的充分参与是优化神经义肢设备使用的一个潜在临床相关靶标。
附：英文原文
Title: Locus coeruleus activity improves cochlear implant performance
Author: Glennon, Erin, Valtcheva, Silvana, Zhu, Angela, Wadghiri, Youssef Z., Svirsky, Mario A., Froemke, Robert C.
Issue&Volume: 2022-12-21
Abstract: Cochlear implants (CIs) are neuroprosthetic devices that can provide hearing to deaf people1. Despite the benefits offered by CIs, the time taken for hearing to be restored and perceptual accuracy after long-term CI use remain highly variable2,3. CI use is believed to require neuroplasticity in the central auditory system, and differential engagement of neuroplastic mechanisms might contribute to the variability in outcomes4,5,6,7. Despite extensive studies on how CIs activate the auditory system4,8,9,10,11,12, the understanding of CI-related neuroplasticity remains limited. One potent factor enabling plasticity is the neuromodulator noradrenaline from the brainstem locus coeruleus (LC). Here we examine behavioural responses and neural activity in LC and auditory cortex of deafened rats fitted with multi-channel CIs. The rats were trained on a reward-based auditory task, and showed considerable individual differences of learning rates and maximum performance. LC photometry predicted when CI subjects began responding to sounds and longer-term perceptual accuracy. Optogenetic LC stimulation produced faster learning and higher long-term accuracy. Auditory cortical responses to CI stimulation reflected behavioural performance, with enhanced responses to rewarded stimuli and decreased distinction between unrewarded stimuli. Adequate engagement of central neuromodulatory systems is thus a potential clinically relevant target for optimizing neuroprosthetic device use.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05554-8
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05554-8
Nature：《自然》，创刊于1869年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：69.504
官方网址：http://www.nature.com/
投稿链接：http://www.nature.com/authors/submit_manuscript.html
本期文章：《自然》：Online/在线发表
