Summary Sensory systems do not work in isolation; instead they show interactions that are specifically uncovered during sensory loss. To identify and characterize these interactions, we investigated whether visual deprivation leads to functional enhancement in primary auditory cortex (A1). We compared sound-evoked responses of A1 neurons in visually-deprived animals to those from normally-reared animals. Here we show that visual deprivation leads to improved frequency selectivity as well as increased frequency and intensity discrimination performance of A1 neurons. Furthermore, we demonstrate in vitro that in adults, visual deprivation strengthens thalamocortical (TC-) synapses in A1, but not in primary visual cortex (V1). Because deafening potentiated TC-synapses in V1 but not A1, cross-modal TC-potentiation seems to be a general property of adult cortex. Our results suggest that adults retain the capability for cross-modal changes while such capability is absent within a sensory modality. Thus multimodal training paradigms might be beneficial in sensory processing disorders.

In utero experience, such as maternal speech in humans, can shape later perception, although the underlying cortical substrate is unknown. In adult mammals, ascending thalamocortical projections target layer 4, and the onset of sensory responses in the cortex is thought to be dependent on the onset of thalamocortical transmission to layer 4 as well as the ear and eye opening. In developing animals, thalamic fibers do not target layer 4 but instead target subplate neurons deep in the developing white matter. We investigated if subplate neurons respond to sensory stimuli. Using electrophysiological recordings in young ferrets, we show that auditory cortex neurons respond to sound at very young ages, even before the opening of the ears. Single unit recordings showed that auditory responses emerged first in cortical subplate neurons. Subsequently, responses appeared in the future thalamocortical input layer 4, and sound-evoked spike latencies were longer in layer 4 than in subplate, consistent with the known relay of thalamic information to layer 4 by subplate neurons. Electrode array recordings show that early auditory responses demonstrate a nascent topographic organization, suggesting that topographic maps emerge before the onset of spiking responses in layer 4. Together our results show that sound-evoked activity and topographic organization of the cortex emerge earlier and in a different layer than previously thought. Thus, early sound experience can activate and potentially sculpt subplate circuits before permanent thalamocortical circuits to layer 4 are present, and disruption of this early sensory activity could be utilized for early diagnosis of developmental disorders.