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Wu GK, Ardeshirpour Y, Mastracchio C, Kent J, Caiola M, Ye M. Amplitude- and frequency-dependent activation of layer II/III neurons by intracortical microstimulation. iScience 2023; 26:108140. [PMID: 37915592 PMCID: PMC10616374 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2023] [Revised: 07/27/2023] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 11/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) has been used for the development of brain machine interfaces. However, further understanding about the spatiotemporal responses of neurons to different electrical stimulation parameters is necessary to inform the design of optimal therapies. In this study, we employed in vivo electrophysiological recording, two-photon calcium imaging, and electric field simulation to evaluate the acute effect of ICMS on layer II/III neurons. Our results show that stimulation frequency non-linearly modulates neuronal responses, whereas the magnitude of responses is linearly correlated to the electric field strength and stimulation amplitude before reaching a steady state. Temporal dynamics of neurons' responses depends more on stimulation frequency and their distance to the stimulation electrode. In addition, amplitude-dependent post-stimulation suppression was observed within ∼500 μm of the stimulation electrode, as evidenced by both calcium imaging and local field potentials. These findings provide insights for selecting stimulation parameters to achieve desirable spatiotemporal specificity of ICMS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guangying K. Wu
- Division of Biomedical Physics, Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA
| | - Yasaman Ardeshirpour
- Division of Biomedical Physics, Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA
| | - Christina Mastracchio
- Division of Biomedical Physics, Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA
| | - Jordan Kent
- Division of Biomedical Physics, Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA
- Scientific Publications Department, Society for Neuroscience, Washington DC, USA
| | - Michael Caiola
- Division of Biomedical Physics, Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA
| | - Meijun Ye
- Division of Biomedical Physics, Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA
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2
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Li H, Wang J, Liu G, Xu J, Huang W, Song C, Wang D, Tao HW, Zhang LI, Liang F. Phasic Off responses of auditory cortex underlie perception of sound duration. Cell Rep 2021; 35:109003. [PMID: 33882311 PMCID: PMC8154544 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2020] [Revised: 02/25/2021] [Accepted: 03/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
It has been proposed that sound information is separately streamed into onset and offset pathways for parallel processing. However, how offset responses contribute to auditory perception remains unclear. Here, loose-patch and whole-cell recordings in awake mouse primary auditory cortex (A1) reveal that a subset of pyramidal neurons exhibit a transient "Off" response, with its onset tightly time-locked to the sound termination and its frequency tuning similar to that of the transient "On" response. Both responses are characterized by excitation briefly followed by inhibition, with the latter mediated by parvalbumin (PV) inhibitory neurons. Optogenetically manipulating sound-evoked A1 responses at different temporal phases or artificially creating phantom sounds in A1 further reveals that the A1 phasic On and Off responses are critical for perceptual discrimination of sound duration. Our results suggest that perception of sound duration is dependent on precisely encoding its onset and offset timings by phasic On and Off responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haifu Li
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Key Laboratory of Mental Health of the Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Shock and Microcirculation, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Jian Wang
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Key Laboratory of Mental Health of the Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Shock and Microcirculation, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Guilong Liu
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Key Laboratory of Mental Health of the Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Shock and Microcirculation, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Jinfeng Xu
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Key Laboratory of Mental Health of the Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Shock and Microcirculation, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Weilong Huang
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Key Laboratory of Mental Health of the Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Shock and Microcirculation, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Changbao Song
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Key Laboratory of Mental Health of the Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Shock and Microcirculation, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Dijia Wang
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Key Laboratory of Mental Health of the Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Shock and Microcirculation, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Huizhong W Tao
- Center for Neural Circuits & Sensory Processing Disorders, Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA; Department of Physiology & Neuroscience, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
| | - Li I Zhang
- Center for Neural Circuits & Sensory Processing Disorders, Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA; Department of Physiology & Neuroscience, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.
| | - Feixue Liang
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Key Laboratory of Mental Health of the Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Shock and Microcirculation, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China; Department of Anesthesiology, Zhujiang Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510220, China.
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3
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Eckert P, Marchetta P, Manthey MK, Walter MH, Jovanovic S, Savitska D, Singer W, Jacob MH, Rüttiger L, Schimmang T, Milenkovic I, Pilz PKD, Knipper M. Deletion of BDNF in Pax2 Lineage-Derived Interneuron Precursors in the Hindbrain Hampers the Proportion of Excitation/Inhibition, Learning, and Behavior. Front Mol Neurosci 2021; 14:642679. [PMID: 33841098 PMCID: PMC8033028 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2021.642679] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2020] [Accepted: 02/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Numerous studies indicate that deficits in the proper integration or migration of specific GABAergic precursor cells from the subpallium to the cortex can lead to severe cognitive dysfunctions and neurodevelopmental pathogenesis linked to intellectual disabilities. A different set of GABAergic precursors cells that express Pax2 migrate to hindbrain regions, targeting, for example auditory or somatosensory brainstem regions. We demonstrate that the absence of BDNF in Pax2-lineage descendants of BdnfPax2KOs causes severe cognitive disabilities. In BdnfPax2KOs, a normal number of parvalbumin-positive interneurons (PV-INs) was found in the auditory cortex (AC) and hippocampal regions, which went hand in hand with reduced PV-labeling in neuropil domains and elevated activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein (Arc/Arg3.1; here: Arc) levels in pyramidal neurons in these same regions. This immaturity in the inhibitory/excitatory balance of the AC and hippocampus was accompanied by elevated LTP, reduced (sound-induced) LTP/LTD adjustment, impaired learning, elevated anxiety, and deficits in social behavior, overall representing an autistic-like phenotype. Reduced tonic inhibitory strength and elevated spontaneous firing rates in dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) brainstem neurons in otherwise nearly normal hearing BdnfPax2KOs suggests that diminished fine-grained auditory-specific brainstem activity has hampered activity-driven integration of inhibitory networks of the AC in functional (hippocampal) circuits. This leads to an inability to scale hippocampal post-synapses during LTP/LTD plasticity. BDNF in Pax2-lineage descendants in lower brain regions should thus be considered as a novel candidate for contributing to the development of brain disorders, including autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philipp Eckert
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Tübingen Hearing Research Centre, Molecular Physiology of Hearing, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Philine Marchetta
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Tübingen Hearing Research Centre, Molecular Physiology of Hearing, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Marie K Manthey
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Tübingen Hearing Research Centre, Molecular Physiology of Hearing, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Department of Neuroscience, Sackler School of Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Michael H Walter
- Department for Animal Physiology, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Sasa Jovanovic
- School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Daria Savitska
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Tübingen Hearing Research Centre, Molecular Physiology of Hearing, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Wibke Singer
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Tübingen Hearing Research Centre, Molecular Physiology of Hearing, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Michele H Jacob
- Department of Neuroscience, Sackler School of Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Lukas Rüttiger
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Tübingen Hearing Research Centre, Molecular Physiology of Hearing, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Thomas Schimmang
- Instituto de Biología y Genética Molecular, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
| | - Ivan Milenkovic
- School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Peter K D Pilz
- Department for Animal Physiology, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Marlies Knipper
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Tübingen Hearing Research Centre, Molecular Physiology of Hearing, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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4
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Noguchi A, Ikegaya Y, Matsumoto N. In Vivo Whole-Cell Patch-Clamp Methods: Recent Technical Progress and Future Perspectives. SENSORS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2021; 21:1448. [PMID: 33669656 PMCID: PMC7922023 DOI: 10.3390/s21041448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2020] [Revised: 02/12/2021] [Accepted: 02/16/2021] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Brain functions are fundamental for the survival of organisms, and they are supported by neural circuits consisting of a variety of neurons. To investigate the function of neurons at the single-cell level, researchers often use whole-cell patch-clamp recording techniques. These techniques enable us to record membrane potentials (including action potentials) of individual neurons of not only anesthetized but also actively behaving animals. This whole-cell recording method enables us to reveal how neuronal activities support brain function at the single-cell level. In this review, we introduce previous studies using in vivo patch-clamp recording techniques and recent findings primarily regarding neuronal activities in the hippocampus for behavioral function. We further discuss how we can bridge the gap between electrophysiology and biochemistry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asako Noguchi
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan; (A.N.); (Y.I.)
| | - Yuji Ikegaya
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan; (A.N.); (Y.I.)
- Institute for AI and Beyond, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
- Center for Information and Neural Networks, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Suita City, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Nobuyoshi Matsumoto
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan; (A.N.); (Y.I.)
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5
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Differential Inhibitory Configurations Segregate Frequency Selectivity in the Mouse Inferior Colliculus. J Neurosci 2019; 39:6905-6921. [PMID: 31270159 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0659-19.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2019] [Revised: 06/20/2019] [Accepted: 06/30/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Receptive fields and tuning curves of sensory neurons represent the neural substrates that allow animals to efficiently detect and distinguish external stimuli. They are progressively refined to create diverse sensitivity and selectivity for neurons along ascending central pathways. However, the neural circuitry mechanisms have not been directly determined for such fundamental qualities in relation to sensory neurons' functional organizations, because of the technical difficulty of correlating neurons' input and output. Here, we obtained spike outputs and synaptic inputs from the same neurons within characteristically defined neural ensembles, to determine the synaptic mechanisms driving their diverse frequency selectivity in the mouse inferior colliculus. We find that the synaptic strength and timing of excitatory and inhibitory inputs are configured differently and independently within individual neurons' receptive fields, which segregate sensitive and selective neurons and endow neural populations with broad receptive fields and sharp frequency tuning. By computationally modeling spike outputs from integrating synaptic inputs and comparing them with real spike responses of the same neurons, we show that space-clamping errors did not qualitatively affect the estimation of spike responses derived from synaptic currents in in vivo voltage-clamp recordings. These data suggest that heterogeneous inhibitory circuits coexist locally for a parallel but differentiated representation of incoming signals.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Sensitivity and selectivity are functional qualities of sensory systems to facilitate animals' survival. There is little direct evidence for the synaptic basis of neurons' functional variance within neural ensembles. Here we adopted a novel framework to fill such a long-standing gap by uniting population activities with single cells' spike outputs and their synaptic inputs. Furthermore, the effects of space-clamping errors on subcortical synaptic currents were evaluated in vivo, by comparing recorded spike responses and simulated spike outputs from computationally integrating synaptic inputs. Our study illustrated that the synaptic strength and timing of inhibition relative to excitation can be configured differently for neurons within a defined neural ensemble, to segregate their selectivity. It provides new insights into coexisting heterogeneous local circuits.
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6
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Liu X, Zhang O, Qi J, Chen A, Hu K, Yan J. The onset and post-onset auditory responses of cochlear nucleus neurons are modulated differently by cortical activation. Hear Res 2019; 373:96-102. [DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2018.12.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2018] [Revised: 12/13/2018] [Accepted: 12/28/2018] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
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7
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Brown DH, Hyson RL. Intrinsic physiological properties underlie auditory response diversity in the avian cochlear nucleus. J Neurophysiol 2019; 121:908-927. [PMID: 30649984 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00459.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Sensory systems exploit parallel processing of stimulus features to enable rapid, simultaneous extraction of information. Mechanisms that facilitate this differential extraction of stimulus features can be intrinsic or synaptic in origin. A subdivision of the avian cochlear nucleus, nucleus angularis (NA), extracts sound intensity information from the auditory nerve and contains neurons that exhibit diverse responses to sound and current injection. NA neurons project to multiple regions ascending the auditory brain stem including the superior olivary nucleus, lateral lemniscus, and avian inferior colliculus, with functional implications for inhibitory gain control and sound localization. Here we investigated whether the diversity of auditory response patterns in NA can be accounted for by variation in intrinsic physiological features. Modeled sound-evoked auditory nerve input was applied to NA neurons with dynamic clamp during in vitro whole cell recording at room temperature. Temporal responses to auditory nerve input depended on variation in intrinsic properties, and the low-threshold K+ current was implicated as a major contributor to temporal response diversity and neuronal input-output functions. An auditory nerve model of acoustic amplitude modulation produced synchrony coding of modulation frequency that depended on the intrinsic physiology of the individual neuron. In Primary-Like neurons, varying low-threshold K+ conductance with dynamic clamp altered temporal modulation tuning bidirectionally. Taken together, these data suggest that intrinsic physiological properties play a key role in shaping auditory response diversity to both simple and more naturalistic auditory stimuli in the avian cochlear nucleus. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This article addresses the question of how the nervous system extracts different information in sounds. Neurons in the cochlear nucleus show diverse responses to acoustic stimuli that may allow for parallel processing of acoustic features. The present studies suggest that diversity in intrinsic physiological features of individual neurons, including levels of a low voltage-activated K+ current, play a major role in regulating the diversity of auditory responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- David H Brown
- Program in Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Florida State University , Tallahassee, Florida
| | - Richard L Hyson
- Program in Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Florida State University , Tallahassee, Florida
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8
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Acoustical Enrichment during Early Development Improves Response Reliability in the Adult Auditory Cortex of the Rat. Neural Plast 2018; 2018:5903720. [PMID: 30002673 PMCID: PMC5998158 DOI: 10.1155/2018/5903720] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2017] [Revised: 04/16/2018] [Accepted: 04/29/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
It is well known that auditory experience during early development shapes response properties of auditory cortex (AC) neurons, influencing, for example, tonotopical arrangement, response thresholds and strength, or frequency selectivity. Here, we show that rearing rat pups in a complex acoustically enriched environment leads to an increased reliability of responses of AC neurons, affecting both the rate and the temporal codes. For a repetitive stimulus, the neurons exhibit a lower spike count variance, indicating a more stable rate coding. At the level of individual spikes, the discharge patterns of individual neurons show a higher degree of similarity across stimulus repetitions. Furthermore, the neurons follow more precisely the temporal course of the stimulus, as manifested by improved phase-locking to temporally modulated sounds. The changes are persistent and present up to adulthood. The results document that besides basic alterations of receptive fields presented in our previous study, the acoustic environment during the critical period of postnatal development also leads to a decreased stochasticity and a higher reproducibility of neuronal spiking patterns.
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9
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Zhang GW, Sun WJ, Zingg B, Shen L, He J, Xiong Y, Tao HW, Zhang LI. A Non-canonical Reticular-Limbic Central Auditory Pathway via Medial Septum Contributes to Fear Conditioning. Neuron 2018; 97:406-417.e4. [PMID: 29290554 PMCID: PMC5798467 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2017.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2017] [Revised: 11/06/2017] [Accepted: 12/05/2017] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
In the mammalian brain, auditory information is known to be processed along a central ascending pathway leading to auditory cortex (AC). Whether there exist any major pathways beyond this canonical auditory neuraxis remains unclear. In awake mice, we found that auditory responses in entorhinal cortex (EC) cannot be explained by a previously proposed relay from AC based on response properties. By combining anatomical tracing and optogenetic/pharmacological manipulations, we discovered that EC received auditory input primarily from the medial septum (MS), rather than AC. A previously uncharacterized auditory pathway was then revealed: it branched from the cochlear nucleus, and via caudal pontine reticular nucleus, pontine central gray, and MS, reached EC. Neurons along this non-canonical auditory pathway responded selectively to high-intensity broadband noise, but not pure tones. Disruption of the pathway resulted in an impairment of specifically noise-cued fear conditioning. This reticular-limbic pathway may thus function in processing aversive acoustic signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guang-Wei Zhang
- Department of Neurobiology, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Third Military Medical University, 30 Gaotanyan St., Chongqing, 400038, China; Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Wen-Jian Sun
- Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA; Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Brian Zingg
- Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA; Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Li Shen
- Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Jufang He
- Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Ying Xiong
- Department of Neurobiology, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Third Military Medical University, 30 Gaotanyan St., Chongqing, 400038, China.
| | - Huizhong W Tao
- Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.
| | - Li I Zhang
- Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.
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10
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Saha D, Sun W, Li C, Nizampatnam S, Padovano W, Chen Z, Chen A, Altan E, Lo R, Barbour DL, Raman B. Engaging and disengaging recurrent inhibition coincides with sensing and unsensing of a sensory stimulus. Nat Commun 2017; 8:15413. [PMID: 28534502 PMCID: PMC5457525 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2016] [Accepted: 03/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Even simple sensory stimuli evoke neural responses that are dynamic and complex. Are the temporally patterned neural activities important for controlling the behavioral output? Here, we investigated this issue. Our results reveal that in the insect antennal lobe, due to circuit interactions, distinct neural ensembles are activated during and immediately following the termination of every odorant. Such non-overlapping response patterns are not observed even when the stimulus intensity or identities were changed. In addition, we find that ON and OFF ensemble neural activities differ in their ability to recruit recurrent inhibition, entrain field-potential oscillations and more importantly in their relevance to behaviour (initiate versus reset conditioned responses). Notably, we find that a strikingly similar strategy is also used for encoding sound onsets and offsets in the marmoset auditory cortex. In sum, our results suggest a general approach where recurrent inhibition is associated with stimulus ‘recognition' and ‘derecognition'. Sensory stimuli evoke temporally dynamic responses. Here the authors report that responses to odour onset and offset are orthogonally represented in the locust antennal lobe, differentially entrain oscillations, and propose a model in which they are necessary for initiation and termination of behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Debajit Saha
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
| | - Wensheng Sun
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
| | - Chao Li
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
| | - Srinath Nizampatnam
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
| | - William Padovano
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
| | - Zhengdao Chen
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
| | - Alex Chen
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
| | - Ege Altan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
| | - Ray Lo
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
| | - Dennis L Barbour
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
| | - Baranidharan Raman
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
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11
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Tao C, Zhang G, Zhou C, Wang L, Yan S, Tao HW, Zhang LI, Zhou Y, Xiong Y. Diversity in Excitation-Inhibition Mismatch Underlies Local Functional Heterogeneity in the Rat Auditory Cortex. Cell Rep 2017; 19:521-531. [PMID: 28423316 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2017.03.061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2016] [Revised: 02/09/2017] [Accepted: 03/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Cortical neurons are heterogeneous in their functional properties. This heterogeneity is fundamental for the processing of different features of sensory information. However, functional diversity within a local group of neurons is poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that neighboring cortical neurons in layer 5 but not those of layer 4 of the rat anterior auditory field (AAF) exhibited a surprisingly high level of diversity in tonal receptive fields. In vivo whole-cell voltage-clamp recordings revealed that the diversity of frequency representation was due to a spectral mismatch between synaptic excitation and inhibition to varying degrees. The spectral distribution of excitation was skewed at different levels, whereas inhibition was homogeneous and non-skewed, similar to the summed spiking activity of local neuronal ensembles, which further enhanced diversity. Our results indicate that AAF in the auditory cortex is involved in processing auditory information in a highly refined manner that is important for complex pattern recognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Can Tao
- Department of Neurobiology, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China
| | - Guangwei Zhang
- Department of Neurobiology, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China
| | - Chang Zhou
- Department of Neurobiology, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China
| | - Lijuan Wang
- Department of Neurobiology, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China
| | - Sumei Yan
- Department of Neurobiology, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China
| | - Huizhong Whit Tao
- Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
| | - Li I Zhang
- Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
| | - Yi Zhou
- Department of Neurobiology, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China.
| | - Ying Xiong
- Department of Neurobiology, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China.
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12
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Tao C, Zhang G, Zhou C, Wang L, Yan S, Zhang LI, Zhou Y, Xiong Y. Synaptic Basis for the Generation of Response Variation in Auditory Cortex. Sci Rep 2016; 6:31024. [PMID: 27484928 PMCID: PMC4971572 DOI: 10.1038/srep31024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2016] [Accepted: 07/13/2016] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Cortical neurons can exhibit significant variation in their responses to the same sensory stimuli, as reflected by the reliability and temporal precision of spikes. However the synaptic mechanism underlying response variation still remains unclear. Here, in vivo whole-cell patch-clamp recording of excitatory neurons revealed variation in the amplitudes as well as the temporal profiles of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs evoked by the same sound stimuli in layer 4 of the rat primary auditory cortex. Synaptic inputs were reliably induced by repetitive stimulation, although with large variation in amplitude. The variation in the amplitude of excitation was much higher than that of inhibition. In addition, the temporal jitter of the synaptic onset latency was much smaller than the jitter of spike response. We further demonstrated that the amplitude variation of excitatory inputs can largely account for the spike variation, while the jitter in spike timing can be primarily attributed to the temporal variation of excitatory inputs. Furthermore, the spike reliability of excitatory but not inhibitory neurons is dependent on tone frequency. Our results thus revealed an inherent cortical synaptic contribution for the generation of variation in the spike responses of auditory cortical neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Can Tao
- Department of Neurobiology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Third Military Medical University, 30 Gaotanyan St., Chongqing, 400038, China
| | - Guangwei Zhang
- Department of Neurobiology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Third Military Medical University, 30 Gaotanyan St., Chongqing, 400038, China
| | - Chang Zhou
- Department of Neurobiology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Third Military Medical University, 30 Gaotanyan St., Chongqing, 400038, China
| | - Lijuan Wang
- Department of Neurobiology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Third Military Medical University, 30 Gaotanyan St., Chongqing, 400038, China
| | - Sumei Yan
- Department of Neurobiology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Third Military Medical University, 30 Gaotanyan St., Chongqing, 400038, China
| | - Li I Zhang
- Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90033, USA
| | - Yi Zhou
- Department of Neurobiology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Third Military Medical University, 30 Gaotanyan St., Chongqing, 400038, China
| | - Ying Xiong
- Department of Neurobiology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Third Military Medical University, 30 Gaotanyan St., Chongqing, 400038, China
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13
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Roberts PD, Portfors CV. Responses to Social Vocalizations in the Dorsal Cochlear Nucleus of Mice. Front Syst Neurosci 2015; 9:172. [PMID: 26733824 PMCID: PMC4680083 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2015.00172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2015] [Accepted: 11/26/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Identifying sounds is critical for an animal to make appropriate behavioral responses to environmental stimuli, including vocalizations from conspecifics. Identification of vocalizations may be supported by neuronal selectivity in the auditory pathway. The first place in the ascending auditory pathway where neuronal selectivity to vocalizations has been found is in the inferior colliculus (IC), but very few brainstem nuclei have been evaluated. Here, we tested whether selectivity to vocalizations is present in the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN). We recorded extracellular neural responses in the DCN of mice and found that fusiform cells responded in a heterogeneous and selective manner to mouse ultrasonic vocalizations. Most fusiform cells responded to vocalizations that contained spectral energy at much higher frequencies than the characteristic frequencies of the cells. To understand this mismatch of stimulus properties and frequency tuning of the cells, we developed a dynamic, nonlinear model of the cochlea that simulates cochlear distortion products on the basilar membrane. We preprocessed the vocalization stimuli through this model and compared responses to these distorted vocalizations with responses to the original vocalizations. We found that fusiform cells in the DCN respond in a heterogeneous manner to vocalizations, and that these neurons can use distortion products as a mechanism for encoding ultrasonic vocalizations. In addition, the selective neuronal responses were dependent on the presence of inhibitory sidebands that modulated the response depending on the temporal structure of the distortion product. These findings suggest that important processing of complex sounds occurs at a very early stage of central auditory processing and is not strictly a function of the cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick D Roberts
- School of Biological Sciences and Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience, Washington State University Vancouver, WA, USA
| | - Christine V Portfors
- School of Biological Sciences and Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience, Washington State University Vancouver, WA, USA
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14
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Stefanescu RA, Shore SE. NMDA Receptors Mediate Stimulus-Timing-Dependent Plasticity and Neural Synchrony in the Dorsal Cochlear Nucleus. Front Neural Circuits 2015; 9:75. [PMID: 26622224 PMCID: PMC4653590 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2015.00075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2015] [Accepted: 10/30/2015] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Auditory information relayed by auditory nerve fibers and somatosensory information relayed by granule cell parallel fibers converge on the fusiform cells (FCs) of the dorsal cochlear nucleus, the first brain station of the auditory pathway. In vitro, parallel fiber synapses on FCs exhibit spike-timing-dependent plasticity with Hebbian learning rules, partially mediated by the NMDA receptor (NMDAr). Well-timed bimodal auditory-somatosensory stimulation, in vivo equivalent of spike-timing-dependent plasticity, can induce stimulus-timing-dependent plasticity (StTDP) of the FCs spontaneous and tone-evoked firing rates. In healthy guinea pigs, the resulting distribution of StTDP learning rules across a FC neural population is dominated by a Hebbian profile while anti-Hebbian, suppressive and enhancing LRs are less frequent. In this study, we investigate in vivo, the NMDAr contribution to FC baseline activity and long term plasticity. We find that blocking the NMDAr decreases the synchronization of FC- spontaneous activity and mediates differential modulation of FC rate-level functions such that low, and high threshold units are more likely to increase, and decrease, respectively, their maximum amplitudes. Three significant alterations in mean learning-rule profiles were identified: transitions from an initial Hebbian profile towards (1) an anti-Hebbian; (2) a suppressive profile; and (3) transitions from an anti-Hebbian to a Hebbian profile. FC units preserving their learning rules showed instead, NMDAr-dependent plasticity to unimodal acoustic stimulation, with persistent depression of tone-evoked responses changing to persistent enhancement following the NMDAr antagonist. These results reveal a crucial role of the NMDAr in mediating FC baseline activity and long-term plasticity which have important implications for signal processing and auditory pathologies related to maladaptive plasticity of dorsal cochlear nucleus circuitry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roxana A Stefanescu
- Department of Otolaryngology, Kresge Hearing Research Institute, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Susan E Shore
- Department of Otolaryngology, Kresge Hearing Research Institute, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI, USA ; Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Michigan Medical School Ann Arbor, MI, USA ; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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15
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Li Y, Ropp TJF, May BJ, Young ED. Dorsal Cochlear Nucleus of the Rat: Representation of Complex Sounds in Ears Damaged by Acoustic Trauma. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol 2015; 16:487-505. [PMID: 25967754 PMCID: PMC4488165 DOI: 10.1007/s10162-015-0522-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2014] [Accepted: 04/29/2015] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Acoustic trauma damages the cochlea but secondarily modifies circuits of the central auditory system. Changes include decreases in inhibitory neurotransmitter systems, degeneration and rewiring of synaptic circuits, and changes in neural activity. Little is known about the consequences of these changes for the representation of complex sounds. Here, we show data from the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) of rats with a moderate high-frequency hearing loss following acoustic trauma. Single-neuron recording was used to estimate the organization of neurons' receptive fields, the balance of inhibition and excitation, and the representation of the spectra of complex broadband stimuli. The complex stimuli had random spectral shapes (RSSs), and the responses were fit with a model that allows the quality of the representation and its degree of linearity to be estimated. Tone response maps of DCN neurons in rat are like those in other species investigated previously, suggesting the same general organization of this nucleus. Following acoustic trauma, abnormal response types appeared. These can be interpreted as reflecting degraded tuning in auditory nerve fibers plus loss of inhibitory inputs in DCN. Abnormal types are somewhat more prevalent at later times (103-376 days) following the exposure, but not significantly so. Inhibition became weaker in post-trauma neurons that retained inhibitory responses but also disappeared in many neurons. The quality of the representation of spectral shape, measured by sensitivity to the spectral shapes of RSS stimuli, was decreased following trauma; in fact, neurons with abnormal response types responded mainly to overall stimulus level, and not spectral shape.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Li
- />Department of Biomedical Engineering, Center for Hearing and Balance, Johns Hopkins University, 505 Traylor Bldg., 720 Rutland Ave., Baltimore, MD 21205 USA
| | - Tessa-Jonne F. Ropp
- />Department of Biomedical Engineering, Center for Hearing and Balance, Johns Hopkins University, 505 Traylor Bldg., 720 Rutland Ave., Baltimore, MD 21205 USA
| | - Bradford J. May
- />Department of Otolaryngology-HNS, Center for Hearing and Balance, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205 USA
| | - Eric D. Young
- />Department of Biomedical Engineering, Center for Hearing and Balance, Johns Hopkins University, 505 Traylor Bldg., 720 Rutland Ave., Baltimore, MD 21205 USA
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