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Liu M, Wang C, Huo L, Cao J, Mao X, He Z, Hu C, Sun H, Deng W, He W, Chen Y, Gu M, Liao J, Guo N, He X, Wu Q, Chen J, Zhang L, Wang X, Shang C, Dong J. Complexin-1 enhances ultrasound neurotransmission in the mammalian auditory pathway. Nat Genet 2024; 56:1503-1515. [PMID: 38834904 DOI: 10.1038/s41588-024-01781-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2022] [Accepted: 04/25/2024] [Indexed: 06/06/2024]
Abstract
Unlike megabats, which rely on well-developed vision, microbats use ultrasonic echolocation to navigate and locate prey. To study ultrasound perception, here we compared the auditory cortices of microbats and megabats by constructing reference genomes and single-nucleus atlases for four species. We found that parvalbumin (PV)+ neurons exhibited evident cross-species differences and could respond to ultrasound signals, whereas their silencing severely affected ultrasound perception in the mouse auditory cortex. Moreover, megabat PV+ neurons expressed low levels of complexins (CPLX1-CPLX4), which can facilitate neurotransmitter release, while microbat PV+ neurons highly expressed CPLX1, which improves neurotransmission efficiency. Further perturbation of Cplx1 in PV+ neurons impaired ultrasound perception in the mouse auditory cortex. In addition, CPLX1 functioned in other parts of the auditory pathway in microbats but not megabats and exhibited convergent evolution between echolocating microbats and whales. Altogether, we conclude that CPLX1 expression throughout the entire auditory pathway can enhance mammalian ultrasound neurotransmission.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meiling Liu
- GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou National Laboratory, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
- Bioland Laboratory (Guangzhou Regenerative Medicine and Health Guangdong Laboratory), Guangzhou, China
| | - Changliang Wang
- GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou National Laboratory, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Lifang Huo
- GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou National Laboratory, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
- Bioland Laboratory (Guangzhou Regenerative Medicine and Health Guangdong Laboratory), Guangzhou, China
| | - Jie Cao
- GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou National Laboratory, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
- Bioland Laboratory (Guangzhou Regenerative Medicine and Health Guangdong Laboratory), Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiuguang Mao
- School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Ziqing He
- GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou National Laboratory, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Chuanxia Hu
- GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou National Laboratory, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
- Bioland Laboratory (Guangzhou Regenerative Medicine and Health Guangdong Laboratory), Guangzhou, China
| | - Haijian Sun
- GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou National Laboratory, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Wenjun Deng
- GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou National Laboratory, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Weiya He
- GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou National Laboratory, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yifu Chen
- GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou National Laboratory, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Meifeng Gu
- GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou National Laboratory, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jiayu Liao
- GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou National Laboratory, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Ning Guo
- GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou National Laboratory, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiangyang He
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Conservation and Resource Utilization, Guangdong Public Laboratory of Wild Animal Conservation and Utilization, Institute of Zoology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China
| | - Qian Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Jiekai Chen
- CAS Key Laboratory of Regenerative Biology, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China
| | - Libiao Zhang
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Conservation and Resource Utilization, Guangdong Public Laboratory of Wild Animal Conservation and Utilization, Institute of Zoology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.
| | - Xiaoqun Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
| | - Congping Shang
- GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou National Laboratory, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
- Bioland Laboratory (Guangzhou Regenerative Medicine and Health Guangdong Laboratory), Guangzhou, China.
| | - Ji Dong
- GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou National Laboratory, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
- Bioland Laboratory (Guangzhou Regenerative Medicine and Health Guangdong Laboratory), Guangzhou, China.
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Ruthig P, Schönwiesner M. Common principles in the lateralisation of auditory cortex structure and function for vocal communication in primates and rodents. Eur J Neurosci 2022; 55:827-845. [PMID: 34984748 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15590] [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: 06/25/2021] [Accepted: 12/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
This review summarises recent findings on the lateralisation of communicative sound processing in the auditory cortex (AC) of humans, non-human primates, and rodents. Functional imaging in humans has demonstrated a left hemispheric preference for some acoustic features of speech, but it is unclear to which degree this is caused by bottom-up acoustic feature selectivity or top-down modulation from language areas. Although non-human primates show a less pronounced functional lateralisation in AC, the properties of AC fields and behavioral asymmetries are qualitatively similar. Rodent studies demonstrate microstructural circuits that might underlie bottom-up acoustic feature selectivity in both hemispheres. Functionally, the left AC in the mouse appears to be specifically tuned to communication calls, whereas the right AC may have a more 'generalist' role. Rodents also show anatomical AC lateralisation, such as differences in size and connectivity. Several of these functional and anatomical characteristics are also lateralized in human AC. Thus, complex vocal communication processing shares common features among rodents and primates. We argue that a synthesis of results from humans, non-human primates, and rodents is necessary to identify the neural circuitry of vocal communication processing. However, data from different species and methods are often difficult to compare. Recent advances may enable better integration of methods across species. Efforts to standardise data formats and analysis tools would benefit comparative research and enable synergies between psychological and biological research in the area of vocal communication processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip Ruthig
- Faculty of Life Sciences, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Sachsen.,Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig
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Slonina ZA, Poole KC, Bizley JK. What can we learn from inactivation studies? Lessons from auditory cortex. Trends Neurosci 2021; 45:64-77. [PMID: 34799134 PMCID: PMC8897194 DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2021.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2020] [Revised: 10/05/2021] [Accepted: 10/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Inactivation experiments in auditory cortex (AC) produce widely varying results that complicate interpretations regarding the precise role of AC in auditory perception and ensuing behaviour. The advent of optogenetic methods in neuroscience offers previously unachievable insight into the mechanisms transforming brain activity into behaviour. With a view to aiding the design and interpretation of future studies in and outside AC, here we discuss the methodological challenges faced in manipulating neural activity. While considering AC’s role in auditory behaviour through the prism of inactivation experiments, we consider the factors that confound the interpretation of the effects of inactivation on behaviour, including the species, the type of inactivation, the behavioural task employed, and the exact location of the inactivation. Wide variation in the outcome of auditory cortex inactivation has been an impediment to clear conclusions regarding the roles of the auditory cortex in behaviour. Inactivation methods differ in their efficacy and specificity. The likelihood of observing a behavioural deficit is additionally influenced by factors such as the species being used, task design and reward. A synthesis of previous results suggests that auditory cortex involvement is critical for tasks that require integrating across multiple stimulus features, and less likely to be critical for simple feature discriminations. New methods of neural silencing provide opportunities for spatially and temporally precise manipulation of activity, allowing perturbation of individual subfields and specific circuits.
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Sparse Coding in Temporal Association Cortex Improves Complex Sound Discriminability. J Neurosci 2021; 41:7048-7064. [PMID: 34244361 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.3167-20.2021] [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: 12/17/2020] [Revised: 06/05/2021] [Accepted: 06/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The mouse auditory cortex is comprised of several auditory fields spanning the dorsoventral axis of the temporal lobe. The ventral most auditory field is the temporal association cortex (TeA), which remains largely unstudied. Using Neuropixels probes, we simultaneously recorded from primary auditory cortex (AUDp), secondary auditory cortex (AUDv), and TeA, characterizing neuronal responses to pure tones and frequency modulated (FM) sweeps in awake head-restrained female mice. As compared with AUDp and AUDv, single-unit (SU) responses to pure tones in TeA were sparser, delayed, and prolonged. Responses to FMs were also sparser. Population analysis showed that the sparser responses in TeA render it less sensitive to pure tones, yet more sensitive to FMs. When characterizing responses to pure tones under anesthesia, the distinct signature of TeA was changed considerably as compared with that in awake mice, implying that responses in TeA are strongly modulated by non-feedforward connections. Together, these findings provide a basic electrophysiological description of TeA as an integral part of sound processing along the cortical hierarchy.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT This is the first comprehensive characterization of the auditory responses in the awake mouse auditory temporal association cortex (TeA). The study provides the foundations for further investigation of TeA and its involvement in auditory learning, plasticity, auditory driven behaviors etc. The study was conducted using state of the art data collection tools, allowing for simultaneous recording from multiple cortical regions and numerous neurons.
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Srivastava HK, Bandyopadhyay S. Parallel Lemniscal and Non-Lemniscal Sources Control Auditory Responses in the Orbitofrontal Cortex (OFC). eNeuro 2020; 7:ENEURO.0121-20.2020. [PMID: 32753369 PMCID: PMC7545433 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0121-20.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2020] [Revised: 04/29/2020] [Accepted: 05/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) controls flexible behavior through stimulus value updating based on stimulus outcome associations, allowing seamless navigation in dynamic sensory environments with changing contingencies. Sensory cue driven responses, primarily studied through behavior, exist in the OFC. However, OFC neurons' sensory response properties, particularly auditory, are unknown in the mouse, a genetically tractable animal. We show that mouse OFC single neurons have unique auditory response properties showing pure oddball detection and long timescales of adaptation resulting in stimulus-history dependence. Further, we show that OFC auditory responses are shaped by two parallel sources in the auditory thalamus, lemniscal and non-lemniscal. The latter underlies a large component of the observed oddball detection and additionally controls persistent activity in the OFC through the amygdala. The deviant selectivity can serve as a signal for important changes in the auditory environment. Such signals, if coupled with persistent activity, obtained by disinhibitory control from the non-lemniscal auditory thalamus or amygdala, will allow for associations with a delayed outcome related signal, like reward prediction error, and potentially forms the basis of updating stimulus outcome associations in the OFC. Thus, the baseline sensory responses allow the behavioral requirement-based response modification through relevant inputs from other structures related to reward, punishment, or memory. Thus, alterations in these responses in neurologic disorders can lead to behavioral deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hemant K Srivastava
- Advanced Technology Development Centre, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, India
| | - Sharba Bandyopadhyay
- Advanced Technology Development Centre, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, India
- Department of Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, India
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Freeman AR, Hare JF, Caldwell HK. Call-specific patterns of neural activation in auditory processing of Richardson's ground squirrel alarm calls. Brain Behav 2020; 10:e01629. [PMID: 32307882 PMCID: PMC7313678 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.1629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2019] [Revised: 03/11/2020] [Accepted: 03/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Richardson's ground squirrels use alarm calls to warn conspecifics about potential predatory threats. Chirp calls typically indicate high levels of threat from airborne predators, while whistle calls are associated with lower levels of threat from terrestrial predators. These types of calls primarily elicit escape behaviors and increased vigilance in receivers, respectively. While much is known about the neural mechanisms involved in the production of vocalizations, less is known about the mechanisms important for the perception of alarm calls by receivers, and whether changes in perceived risk are associated with unique patterns of neuronal activation. Thus, to determine whether alarm calls associated with different levels of predation risk result in differential neuronal activation, we used immunohistochemistry to identify and quantify c-Fos immunopositive cells in brain regions important in stress, fear, danger, and reward, following alarm call reception. METHODS We exposed 29 female Richardson's ground squirrels (10 control, 10 whistle receivers, and 9 chirp receivers) to playbacks of whistles, chirps, or a no-vocalization control. We then assessed neuronal activation via c-Fos immunohistochemistry in 12 brain regions. RESULTS Ground squirrels receiving high-threat "chirp" vocalizations had reduced neuronal activation in the medial amygdala and superior colliculus compared with controls. It is likely that changes in activity in these brain regions serve to alter the balance between approach and avoidance in turn promoting escape behaviors. CONCLUSIONS Thus, we conclude that in Richardson's ground squirrels, these brain regions are important for the perception of risk resulting from receiving alarm calls and allow for appropriate behavioral responses by receivers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela R Freeman
- Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology and Behavior, Department of Biological Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA
| | - James F Hare
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
| | - Heather K Caldwell
- Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology and Behavior, Department of Biological Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA.,School of Biomedical Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA
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7
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Liu X, Zhang O, Chen A, Hu K, Ehret G, Yan J. Corticofugal Augmentation of the Auditory Brainstem Response With Respect to Cortical Preference. Front Syst Neurosci 2019; 13:39. [PMID: 31496941 PMCID: PMC6713121 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2019.00039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2019] [Accepted: 08/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Physiological studies documented highly specific corticofugal modulations making subcortical centers focus processing on sounds that the auditory cortex (AC) has experienced to be important. Here, we show the effects of focal conditioning (FC) of the primary auditory cortex (FCAI) on auditory brainstem response (ABR) amplitudes and latencies in house mice. FCAI significantly increased ABR peak amplitudes (peaks I–V), decreased thresholds, and shortened peak latencies in responses to the frequency tuned by conditioned cortical neurons. The amounts of peak amplitude increases and latency decreases were specific for each processing level up to the auditory midbrain. The data provide new insights into possible corticofugal modulation of inner hair cell synapses and new corticofugal effects as neuronal enhancement of processing in the superior olivary complex (SOC) and lateral lemniscus (LL). Thus, our comprehensive ABR approach confirms the role of the AC as instructor of lower auditory levels and extends this role specifically to the cochlea, SOC, and LL. The whole pathway from the cochlea to the inferior colliculus appears, in a common mode, instructed in a very similar way.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiuping Liu
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Oliver Zhang
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Amber Chen
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Kaili Hu
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Günter Ehret
- Institute of Neurobiology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Jun Yan
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
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Moreno A, Gumaste A, Adams GK, Chong KK, Nguyen M, Shepard KN, Liu RC. Familiarity with social sounds alters c-Fos expression in auditory cortex and interacts with estradiol in locus coeruleus. Hear Res 2018; 366:38-49. [PMID: 29983289 PMCID: PMC6470399 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2018.06.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2017] [Revised: 06/21/2018] [Accepted: 06/26/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
When a social sound category initially gains behavioral significance to an animal, plasticity events presumably enhance the ability to recognize that sound category in the future. In the context of learning natural social stimuli, neuromodulators such as norepinephrine and estrogen have been associated with experience-dependent plasticity and processing of newly salient social cues, yet continued plasticity once stimuli are familiar could disrupt the stability of sensorineural representations. Here we employed a maternal mouse model of natural sensory cortical plasticity for infant vocalizations to ask whether the engagement of the noradrenergic locus coeruleus (LC) by the playback of pup-calls is affected by either prior experience with the sounds or estrogen availability, using a well-studied cellular activity and plasticity marker, the immediate early gene c-Fos. We counted call-induced c-Fos immunoreactive (cFos-IR) cells in both LC and physiologically validated fields within the auditory cortex (AC) of estradiol or blank-implanted virgin female mice with either 0 or 5-days prior experience caring for vocalizing pups. Estradiol and pup experience interacted both in the induction of c-Fos-IR in the LC, as well as in behavioral measures of locomotion during playback, consistent with the neuromodulatory center’s activity being an online reflection of both hormonal and experience-dependent influences on arousal. Throughout core AC, as well as in a high frequency sub-region of AC and in secondary AC, a main effect of pup experience was to reduce call-induced c-Fos-IR, irrespective of estradiol availability. This is consistent with the hypothesis that sound familiarity leads to less c-Fos-mediated plasticity, and less disrupted sensory representations of a meaningful call category. Taken together, our data support the view that any coupling between these sensory and neuromodulatory areas is situationally dependent, and their engagement depends differentially on both internal state factors like hormones and external state factors like prior experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amielle Moreno
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, Emory University, 1462 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA; Department of Biology, Emory University, 1510 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
| | - Ankita Gumaste
- Department of Biology, Emory University, 1510 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA; Neuroscience and Behavior Biology Program, Emory University, 1462 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
| | - Geoff K Adams
- Department of Biology, Emory University, 1510 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
| | - Kelly K Chong
- Department of Biology, Emory University, 1510 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA; Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program, Georgia Institute of Technology, North Ave NW, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA.
| | - Michael Nguyen
- Department of Biology, Emory University, 1510 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA; Neuroscience and Behavior Biology Program, Emory University, 1462 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
| | - Kathryn N Shepard
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, Emory University, 1462 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA; Department of Biology, Emory University, 1510 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
| | - Robert C Liu
- Department of Biology, Emory University, 1510 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA; Center for Translational Social Neuroscience, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
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9
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Akimov AG, Egorova MA, Ehret G. Spectral summation and facilitation in on- and off-responses for optimized representation of communication calls in mouse inferior colliculus. Eur J Neurosci 2017; 45:440-459. [PMID: 27891665 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.13488] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2016] [Revised: 11/17/2016] [Accepted: 11/21/2016] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Selectivity for processing of species-specific vocalizations and communication sounds has often been associated with the auditory cortex. The midbrain inferior colliculus, however, is the first center in the auditory pathways of mammals integrating acoustic information processed in separate nuclei and channels in the brainstem and, therefore, could significantly contribute to enhance the perception of species' communication sounds. Here, we used natural wriggling calls of mouse pups, which communicate need for maternal care to adult females, and further 15 synthesized sounds to test the hypothesis that neurons in the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus of adult females optimize their response rates for reproduction of the three main harmonics (formants) of wriggling calls. The results confirmed the hypothesis showing that average response rates, as recorded extracellularly from single units, were highest and spectral facilitation most effective for both onset and offset responses to the call and call models with three resolved frequencies according to critical bands in perception. In addition, the general on- and/or off-response enhancement in almost half the investigated 122 neurons favors not only perception of single calls but also of vocalization rhythm. In summary, our study provides strong evidence that critical-band resolved frequency components within a communication sound increase the probability of its perception by boosting the signal-to-noise ratio of neural response rates within the inferior colliculus for at least 20% (our criterion for facilitation). These mechanisms, including enhancement of rhythm coding, are generally favorable to processing of other animal and human vocalizations, including formants of speech sounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander G Akimov
- Sechnov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Marina A Egorova
- Sechnov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Günter Ehret
- Institute of Neurobiology, University of Ulm, D-89069, Ulm, Germany
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10
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Marlin BJ, Froemke RC. Oxytocin modulation of neural circuits for social behavior. Dev Neurobiol 2016; 77:169-189. [PMID: 27626613 DOI: 10.1002/dneu.22452] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2016] [Revised: 09/07/2016] [Accepted: 09/12/2016] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Oxytocin is a hypothalamic neuropeptide that has gained attention for the effects on social behavior. Recent findings shed new light on the mechanisms of oxytocin in synaptic plasticity and adaptively modifying neural circuits for social interactions such as conspecific recognition, pair bonding, and maternal care. Here, we review several of these newer studies on oxytocin in the context of previous findings, with an emphasis on social behavior and circuit plasticity in various brain regions shown to be enriched for oxytocin receptors. We provide a framework that highlights current circuit-level mechanisms underlying the widespread action of oxytocin. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 77: 169-189, 2017.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bianca J Marlin
- Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, New York, 10032.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York, 10032
| | - Robert C Froemke
- Department of Otolaryngology, Skirball Institute for Biomolecular Medicine, Neuroscience Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York.,Department of Neuroscience and Physiology Skirball Institute for Biomolecular Medicine, Neuroscience Institute New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York.,Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York
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