Early-Life Visceral Stress Sensitized Auditory Brainstem Responses in Rats
A 40-rat early-life visceral stress study found auditory pathway sensitization without hearing-threshold loss: neonatal colorectal distension produced IBS-like visceral hypersensitivity, normal ABR thresholds, shortened auditory brainstem latencies, increased amplitudes, and 219 differentially expressed cochlear proteins.1 The result turns IBS-like stress exposure into a gut-pain and sensory-processing question. Research Highlights Visceral hypersensitivity was strong: At 20 …