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Scarpa GB, Starrett JR, Li GL, Brooks C, Morohashi Y, Yazaki-Sugiyama Y, Remage-Healey L. Estrogens rapidly shape synaptic and intrinsic properties to regulate the temporal precision of songbird auditory neurons. Cereb Cortex 2022; 33:3401-3420. [PMID: 35849820 PMCID: PMC10068288 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2022] [Revised: 06/20/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Sensory neurons parse millisecond-variant sound streams like birdsong and speech with exquisite precision. The auditory pallial cortex of vocal learners like humans and songbirds contains an unconventional neuromodulatory system: neuronal expression of the estrogen synthesis enzyme aromatase. Local forebrain neuroestrogens fluctuate when songbirds hear a song, and subsequently modulate bursting, gain, and temporal coding properties of auditory neurons. However, the way neuroestrogens shape intrinsic and synaptic properties of sensory neurons remains unknown. Here, using a combination of whole-cell patch clamp electrophysiology and calcium imaging, we investigate estrogenic neuromodulation of auditory neurons in a region resembling mammalian auditory association cortex. We found that estradiol rapidly enhances the temporal precision of neuronal firing via a membrane-bound G-protein coupled receptor and that estradiol rapidly suppresses inhibitory synaptic currents while sparing excitation. Notably, the rapid suppression of intrinsic excitability by estradiol was predicted by membrane input resistance and was observed in both males and females. These findings were corroborated by analysis of in vivo electrophysiology recordings, in which local estrogen synthesis blockade caused acute disruption of the temporal correlation of song-evoked firing patterns. Therefore, on a modulatory timescale, neuroestrogens alter intrinsic cellular properties and inhibitory neurotransmitter release to regulate the temporal precision of higher-order sensory neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Garrett B Scarpa
- Neuroscience and Behavior, Center for Neuroendocrine Studies, University of Massachusetts, 639 N. Pleasant St., Amherst, MA 01003, United States
| | - Joseph R Starrett
- Neuroscience and Behavior, Center for Neuroendocrine Studies, University of Massachusetts, 639 N. Pleasant St., Amherst, MA 01003, United States
| | - Geng-Lin Li
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Eye and ENT Hospital, Fudan University, 83 Fenyang Rd, Xuhui District, Shanghai 200031, China
| | - Colin Brooks
- Neuroscience and Behavior, Center for Neuroendocrine Studies, University of Massachusetts, 639 N. Pleasant St., Amherst, MA 01003, United States
| | - Yuichi Morohashi
- Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University, 1919-1 Tancha, Onna, Kunigami District, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Yoko Yazaki-Sugiyama
- Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University, 1919-1 Tancha, Onna, Kunigami District, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Luke Remage-Healey
- Neuroscience and Behavior, Center for Neuroendocrine Studies, University of Massachusetts, 639 N. Pleasant St., Amherst, MA 01003, United States
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2
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Bibikov NG. The Relative Significance of Signal Amplitude and Rate of Its Change for Spike Generation in Amphibian Medullary Auditory Neurons. J EVOL BIOCHEM PHYS+ 2020. [DOI: 10.1134/s0022093020010081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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3
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Tetteh H, Lee M, Lau CG, Yang S, Yang S. Tinnitus: Prospects for Pharmacological Interventions With a Seesaw Model. Neuroscientist 2017; 24:353-367. [PMID: 29283017 DOI: 10.1177/1073858417733415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Chronic tinnitus, the perception of lifelong constant ringing in ear, is one capital cause of disability in modern society. It is often present with various comorbid factors that severely affect quality of life, including insomnia, deficits in attention, anxiety, and depression. Currently, there are limited therapeutic treatments for alleviation of tinnitus. Tinnitus can involve a shift in neuronal excitation/inhibition (E/I) balance, which is largely modulated by ion channels and receptors. Thus, ongoing research is geared toward pharmaceutical approaches that modulate the function of ion channels and receptors. Here, we propose a seesaw model that delineates how tinnitus-related ion channels and receptors are involved in homeostatic E/I balance of neurons. This review provides a thorough account of our current mechanistic understanding of tinnitus and insight into future direction of drug development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah Tetteh
- 1 Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Minseok Lee
- 2 Department of Nano-Bioengineering, Incheon National University, Incheon, South Korea
| | - C Geoffrey Lau
- 1 Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Sunggu Yang
- 2 Department of Nano-Bioengineering, Incheon National University, Incheon, South Korea
| | - Sungchil Yang
- 1 Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong
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Dagostin AA, Lovell PV, Hilscher MM, Mello CV, Leão RM. Control of Phasic Firing by a Background Leak Current in Avian Forebrain Auditory Neurons. Front Cell Neurosci 2015; 9:471. [PMID: 26696830 PMCID: PMC4674572 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2015.00471] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2015] [Accepted: 11/19/2015] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Central neurons express a variety of neuronal types and ion channels that promote firing heterogeneity among their distinct neuronal populations. Action potential (AP) phasic firing, produced by low-threshold voltage-activated potassium currents (VAKCs), is commonly observed in mammalian brainstem neurons involved in the processing of temporal properties of the acoustic information. The avian caudomedial nidopallium (NCM) is an auditory area analogous to portions of the mammalian auditory cortex that is involved in the perceptual discrimination and memorization of birdsong and shows complex responses to auditory stimuli We performed in vitro whole-cell patch-clamp recordings in brain slices from adult zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) and observed that half of NCM neurons fire APs phasically in response to membrane depolarizations, while the rest fire transiently or tonically. Phasic neurons fired APs faster and with more temporal precision than tonic and transient neurons. These neurons had similar membrane resting potentials, but phasic neurons had lower membrane input resistance and time constant. Surprisingly phasic neurons did not express low-threshold VAKCs, which curtailed firing in phasic mammalian brainstem neurons, having similar VAKCs to other NCM neurons. The phasic firing was determined not by VAKCs, but by the potassium background leak conductances, which was more prominently expressed in phasic neurons, a result corroborated by pharmacological, dynamic-clamp, and modeling experiments. These results reveal a new role for leak currents in generating firing diversity in central neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- André A Dagostin
- Department of Physiology, School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Peter V Lovell
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland OR, USA
| | - Markus M Hilscher
- Brain Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte Natal, Brazil ; Institute for Analysis and Scientific Computing, Vienna University of Technology Vienna, Austria
| | - Claudio V Mello
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland OR, USA
| | - Ricardo M Leão
- Department of Physiology, School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
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Buerkle NP, Schrode KM, Bee MA. Assessing stimulus and subject influences on auditory evoked potentials and their relation to peripheral physiology in green treefrogs (Hyla cinerea). Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 2014; 178:68-81. [PMID: 25151643 PMCID: PMC4174320 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2014.08.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2014] [Revised: 05/31/2014] [Accepted: 08/13/2014] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Anurans (frogs and toads) are important models for comparative studies of communication, auditory physiology, and neuroethology, but to date, most of our knowledge comes from in-depth studies of a relatively small number of model species. Using the well-studied green treefrog (Hyla cinerea), this study sought to develop and evaluate the use of auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) as a minimally invasive tool for investigating auditory sensitivity in a larger diversity of anuran species. The goals of the study were to assess the effects of frequency, signal level, sex, and body size on auditory brainstem response (ABR) amplitudes and latencies, characterize gross ABR morphology, and generate an audiogram that could be compared to several previously published audiograms for green treefrogs. Increasing signal level resulted in larger ABR amplitudes and shorter latencies, and these effects were frequency dependent. There was little evidence for an effect of sex or size on ABRs. Analyses consistently distinguished between responses to stimuli in the frequency ranges of the three previously-described populations of afferents that innervate the two auditory end organs in anurans. The overall shape of the audiogram shared prominent features with previously published audiograms. This study highlights the utility of AEPs as a valuable tool for the study of anuran auditory sensitivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan P Buerkle
- College of Biological Sciences, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Katrina M Schrode
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
| | - Mark A Bee
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA
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Bibikov NG. On the existence of spontaneous neuronal bursting activity at the periphery of the amphibian auditory pathway. J EVOL BIOCHEM PHYS+ 2014. [DOI: 10.1134/s0022093013060054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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Cell's intrinsic biophysical properties play a role in the systematic decrease in time-locking ability of central auditory neurons. Neuroscience 2012; 208:49-57. [PMID: 22330835 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2012.01.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2011] [Revised: 01/24/2012] [Accepted: 01/24/2012] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Studies in the vertebrates have shown that the time-locking ability of central auditory neurons decreases progressively along the ascending auditory pathway. This decrease is presumably attributed to a progressive reduction in the fidelity of synaptic transmission and an increase in the influence of synaptic inhibition along the cascade. The extent to which neurons' intrinsic biophysical properties contribute to the change in time-locking ability is unclear. We carried out whole-cell patch clamp recordings from the auditory thalamus of leopard frogs and compared their biophysical properties and time-locking abilities (determined by cell's responses to depolarizing pulse trains applied intracellularly) with those of lower auditory brainstem neurons. We found that frog thalamic neurons were homogeneous, exhibiting uniformly sustained, regular firing patterns, but not having low-threshold transient Ca2+ current which mammal thalamic neurons generally possess. Furthermore, intrinsic biophysical properties of the thalamic neurons are such that the time-locking ability of these neurons was very poor. The homogeneity of thalamic auditory neurons is in contrast to the heterogeneity of lower auditory brainstem neurons, with different phenotypes exhibiting different time-locking abilities and with sustained-regular phenotype consistently showing the worst time-locking ability among all biophysical phenotypes. Auditory nuclei along the ascending auditory pathway showed a progressive increase in the population of sustained-regular phenotype-this corresponded to a systematic decrease in the overall time-locking ability, with neurons in the dorsal medullary nucleus showing the best, and thalamic neurons exhibiting the poorest time-locking ability, whereas neurons in the torus semicircularis displayed intermediate time-locking ability. These results suggest that the biophysical characteristics of single neurons also likely play a role in the change in temporal coding ability along the ascending auditory pathway.
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Reiner A, Yang M, Cagle MC, Honig MG. Localization of cerebellin-2 in late embryonic chicken brain: implications for a role in synapse formation and for brain evolution. J Comp Neurol 2011; 519:2225-51. [PMID: 21456003 PMCID: PMC3392029 DOI: 10.1002/cne.22626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Cerebellin-1 (Cbln1), the most studied member of the cerebellin family of secreted proteins, is necessary for the formation and maintenance of parallel fiber-Purkinje cell synapses. However, the roles of the other Cblns have received little attention. We previously identified the chicken homolog of Cbln2 and examined its expression in dorsal root ganglia and spinal cord (Yang et al. [2010] J Comp Neurol 518:2818-2840). Interestingly, Cbln2 is expressed by mechanoreceptive and proprioceptive neurons and in regions of the spinal cord where those afferents terminate, as well as by preganglionic sympathetic neurons and their sympathetic ganglia targets. These findings suggest that Cbln2 may demonstrate a tendency to be expressed by synaptically connected neuronal populations. To further assess this possibility, we examined Cbln2 expression in chick brain. We indeed found that Cbln2 is frequently expressed by synaptically connected neurons, although there are exceptions, and we discuss the implications of these findings for Cbln2 function. Cbln2 expression tends to be more common in primary sensory neurons and in second-order sensory regions than it is in motor areas of the brain. Moreover, we found that the level of Cbln2 expression for many regions of the chicken brain is very similar to that of the mammalian homologs, consistent with the view that the expression patterns of molecules playing fundamental roles in processes such as neuronal communication are evolutionarily conserved. There are, however, large differences in the pattern of Cbln2 expression in avian as compared to mammalian telencephalon and in other regions that show the most divergence between the two lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anton Reiner
- University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Memphis, Tennessee 38163
| | - Mao Yang
- University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Memphis, Tennessee 38163
| | - Michael C. Cagle
- University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Memphis, Tennessee 38163
| | - Marcia G. Honig
- University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Memphis, Tennessee 38163
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Bibikov NG, Nizamov SV. Analysis of single unit activity evoked by tones amplitude-modulated with low-frequency noise in frog medulla. Biophysics (Nagoya-shi) 2009. [DOI: 10.1134/s0006350909050157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
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Yang S, Lin W, Feng AS. Wide-ranging frequency preferences of auditory midbrain neurons: Roles of membrane time constant and synaptic properties. Eur J Neurosci 2009; 30:76-90. [PMID: 19558621 DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2009.06797.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Periodicity is a fundamental sound attribute. Its coding has been the subject of intensive research, most of which has focused on investigating how the periodicity of sounds is processed through the synaptic machinery in the brain. The extent to which the intrinsic properties of cells play in periodicity coding, particularly in the creation of selectivity to periodic signals, is not well understood. We performed in vitro whole-cell patch recordings in the frog torus semicircularis to investigate each neuron's intrinsic membrane properties as well as responses to sinusoidal current injected through the electrode and periodic stimulation of the ascending afferent. We found that: (i) toral neurons were heterogeneous, showing diverse biophysical phenotypes having distinct membrane characteristics, including membrane time constants (tau) and ionic channel compositions (I(h), I(kir), I(kv) and I(NaP)); (ii) a neuron's tau was tightly correlated with its current-evoked frequency preference (FP; range: 0.05-50 Hz); (iii) application of blockers for I(h), I(kir) and I(kv) (but not I(NaP)) shifted the tau as well as the cell's current-evoked FP, suggesting that these ion channels contribute to the cell's FP through regulation of tau; (iv) a neuron's tau was also correlated with its afferent-evoked FP (range: 10-300 pulses/s); and (v) the range of afferent-evoked FP was approximately one order higher than the range of current-evoked FPs, suggesting that both the cell's intrinsic membrane and synaptic properties contribute to determining the afferent-evoked cell-specific FP (whose range matched those of cell-specific responses to sound stimulation, e.g. selectivity to amplitude modulation rate).
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Affiliation(s)
- Sungchil Yang
- Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology & Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
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Bibikov NG, Stogova EA. Temporal peculiarities of responses of auditory system neurons of the frog Rana temporaria to tone bursts with different modulation frequencies. J EVOL BIOCHEM PHYS+ 2009. [DOI: 10.1134/s0022093009010098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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