Human ROBO1 regulates interaural interaction in auditory pathways

Abstract

In rodents, the Robo1 gene regulates midline crossing of major nerve tracts, a fundamental property of the mammalian CNS. However, the neurodevelopmental function of thehumanROBO1gene remains unknown, apart from a suggested role in dyslexia.Wetherefore studied axonal crossing with a functional approach, based on magnetoencephalography, in 10 dyslexic individuals who all share the same rare, weakly expressing haplotype of the ROBO1 gene. Auditory-cortex responses were recorded separately to left-and right-ear sounds that were amplitude modulated at different frequencies. We found impaired interaural interaction that depended on the ROBO1 in a dosedependent manner. Our results indicate that normal crossing of the auditory pathways requires an adequate ROBO1 expression level. © 2012 the authors.