Parvalbumin-positive (PV+) interneurons are major regulators of cortical experience-dependent plasticity. Using an adaptive auditory discrimination task, we found that perceptual learning is associated with a transient downregulation of PV expression in primary auditory cortex (A1), as previously shown in motor and hippocampal cortex. Chronic chemogenetic manipulation of A1 PV+ interneurons during training changed the rate of acquisition of new skills; such that upregulation of PV+ cell activity accelerated perceptual learning, but reducing their activity resulted in slower learning. However, both interventions resulted in impaired perceptual acuity by the end of training, relative to controls. These findings suggest that, whereas reduced PV+ cell function may facilitate training-induced plasticity early in training, a subsequent increase in PV+ cell activity might be needed to prevent further plastic changes and consolidate learning.
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