Following sensory deprivation, areas and networks in the brain may adapt and reorganize to compensate for the loss of input. These adaptations are manifestations of compensatory crossmodal plasticity, which has been documented in both human and animal models of deafness–including the domestic cat. Although there are abundant examples of structural plasticity in deaf felines from retrograde tracer-based studies, there is a lack of diffusion-based knowledge involving this model compared to the current breadth of human research. The purpose of this study was to explore white matter structural adaptations in the perinatally-deafened cat via tractography, increasing the methodological overlap between species. Plasticity was examined by identifying unique group connections and assessing altered connectional strength throughout the entirety of the brain. Results revealed a largely preserved connectome containing a limited number of group-specific or altered connections focused within and between sensory networks, which is generally corroborated by deaf feline anatomical tracer literature. Furthermore, five hubs of cortical plasticity and altered communication following perinatal deafness were observed. The limited differences found in the present study suggest that deafness-induced crossmodal plasticity is largely built upon intrinsic structural connections, with limited remodeling of underlying white matter.

中文翻译：

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猫围产期耳聋后连接组的改变

感觉剥夺后，大脑中的区域和网络可能会进行适应和重组，以补偿输入的损失。这些适应是补偿性跨模式可塑性的表现，这在人类和动物耳聋模型（包括家猫）中都有记录。尽管基于逆行示踪剂的研究中有大量耳聋猫科动物结构可塑性的例子，但与当前的人类研究范围相比，缺乏涉及该模型的基于扩散的知识。本研究的目的是通过纤维束描记术探索围产期耳聋猫的白质结构适应，增加物种之间的方法重叠。通过识别独特的群体连接并评估整个大脑改变的连接强度来检查可塑性。结果显示，连接组在很大程度上保存完好，其中包含有限数量的群体特异性或改变的连接，集中在感觉网络内部和之间，这通常得到聋猫科动物解剖示踪文献的证实。此外，还观察到围产期耳聋后皮质可塑性和交流改变的五个中心。本研究中发现的有限差异表明，耳聋引起的跨模态可塑性很大程度上建立在内在结构连接的基础上，对底层白质的重塑有限。