RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 A role of oligodendrocytes in information processing independent of conduction velocity
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 736975
DO 10.1101/736975
A1 Sharlen Moore
A1 Martin Meschkat
A1 Torben Ruhwedel
A1 Iva D. Tzvetanova
A1 Andrea Trevisiol
A1 Arne Battefeld
A1 Kathrin Kusch
A1 Maarten Kole
A1 Nicola Strenzke
A1 Wiebke Möbius
A1 Livia de Hoz
A1 Klaus-Armin Nave
YR 2019
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/08/16/736975.abstract
AB Myelinating oligodendrocytes enable fast impulse propagation along axons as revealed through studies of homogeneously myelinated white matter tracts. However, gray matter myelination patterns are different, with sparsely myelinated sections leaving large portions of the axons naked. The consequences of this patchy myelination for oligodendrocyte function are not understood but suggest other roles in information processing beyond the regulation of axonal conduction velocity. Here, we analyzed the contribution of myelin to auditory information processing using paradigms that are good predictors of speech understanding in humans. We compared mice with different degrees of dysmyelination using acute cortical multiunit recordings in combination with behavioral readouts. We identified complex alterations of neuronal responses that reflect fatigue and temporal acuity deficits. Partially discriminable but overall similar deficits were observed in mice with oligodendrocytes that can myelinate but cannot fully support axons metabolically. Thus, myelination contributes to sustained stimulus perception in temporally complex paradigms, revealing a role of oligodendrocytes in the CNS beyond the increase of axonal conduction velocity.