Meta-adaptation in the auditory midbrain under cortical influence

The Oxford Handbook of the Auditory Brainstem provides an in-depth reference to the organization and function of ascending and descending auditory pathways in the mammalian brainstem. Individual chapters are organized along the auditory pathway, beginning with the cochlea and ending with the auditory midbrain. Each chapter provides an introduction to the respective area and summarizes our current knowledge before discussing the disputes and challenges that the field currently faces.The handbook emphasizes the numerous forms of plasticity that are increasingly observed in many areas of the auditory brainstem. Several chapters focus on neuronal modulation of function and plasticity on the synaptic, neuronal, and circuit level, especially during development, aging, and following peripheral hearing loss. In addition, the book addresses the role of trauma-induced maladaptive plasticity with respect to its contribution in generating central hearing dysfunction, such as hyperacusis and tinnitus.The book is intended for students and postdoctoral fellows starting in the auditory field and for researchers of related fields who wish to get an authoritative and up-to-date summary of the current state of auditory brainstem research. For clinical practitioners in audiology, otolaryngology, and neurology, the book is a valuable resource of information about the neuronal mechanisms that are currently discussed as major candidates for the generation of central hearing dysfunction.

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Subcortical circuits mediate communication between primary sensory cortical areas in mice

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-24200-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Michael Lohse ◽

Johannes C. Dahmen ◽

Victoria M. Bajo ◽

Andrew J. King

Keyword(s):

Cortical Neurons ◽

Common Property ◽

Primary Auditory Cortex ◽

Facilitatory Effect ◽

Thalamic Nuclei ◽

Auditory Midbrain ◽

Cortical Areas ◽

Auditory Responses ◽

Evoked Activity

AbstractIntegration of information across the senses is critical for perception and is a common property of neurons in the cerebral cortex, where it is thought to arise primarily from corticocortical connections. Much less is known about the role of subcortical circuits in shaping the multisensory properties of cortical neurons. We show that stimulation of the whiskers causes widespread suppression of sound-evoked activity in mouse primary auditory cortex (A1). This suppression depends on the primary somatosensory cortex (S1), and is implemented through a descending circuit that links S1, via the auditory midbrain, with thalamic neurons that project to A1. Furthermore, a direct pathway from S1 has a facilitatory effect on auditory responses in higher-order thalamic nuclei that project to other brain areas. Crossmodal corticofugal projections to the auditory midbrain and thalamus therefore play a pivotal role in integrating multisensory signals and in enabling communication between different sensory cortical areas.

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Coding of Electric Pulse Trains Presented through Cochlear Implants in the Auditory Midbrain of Awake Rabbit: Comparison with Anesthetized Preparations

Journal of Neuroscience ◽

10.1523/jneurosci.2084-13.2014 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 34 (1) ◽

pp. 218-231 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Y. Chung ◽

K. E. Hancock ◽

S.-I. Nam ◽

B. Delgutte

Keyword(s):

Cochlear Implants ◽

Electric Pulse ◽

Auditory Midbrain ◽

Pulse Trains

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The Representation of the Cochlea Within the Auditory Midbrain

The Auditory Midbrain ◽

10.1007/978-1-59259-460-3_6 ◽

1986 ◽

pp. 55-74

Author(s):

Lindsay M. Aitkin

Keyword(s):

Auditory Midbrain

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The Auditory Midbrain

The Auditory Midbrain ◽

10.1007/978-1-59259-460-3_12 ◽

1986 ◽

pp. 201-204

Author(s):

Lindsay M. Aitkin

Keyword(s):

Auditory Midbrain

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Role of the Zebra Finch Auditory Thalamus in Generating Complex Representations for Natural Sounds

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00128.2010 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 104 (2) ◽

pp. 784-798 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Noopur Amin ◽

Patrick Gill ◽

Frédéric E. Theunissen

Keyword(s):

Receptive Fields ◽

Neural Representation ◽

Natural Sounds ◽

Auditory Midbrain ◽

Complex Sounds ◽

Auditory Thalamus ◽

Spectrotemporal Receptive Fields ◽

Primary Sensory Cortex ◽

Relay Nucleus ◽

Field L

We estimated the spectrotemporal receptive fields of neurons in the songbird auditory thalamus, nucleus ovoidalis, and compared the neural representation of complex sounds in the auditory thalamus to those found in the upstream auditory midbrain nucleus, mesencephalicus lateralis dorsalis (MLd), and the downstream auditory pallial region, field L. Our data refute the idea that the primary sensory thalamus acts as a simple, relay nucleus: we find that the auditory thalamic receptive fields obtained in response to song are more complex than the ones found in the midbrain. Moreover, we find that linear tuning diversity and complexity in ovoidalis (Ov) are closer to those found in field L than in MLd. We also find prevalent tuning to intermediate spectral and temporal modulations, a feature that is unique to Ov. Thus even a feed-forward model of the sensory processing chain, where neural responses in the sensory thalamus reveals intermediate response properties between those in the sensory periphery and those in the primary sensory cortex, is inadequate in describing the tuning found in Ov. Based on these results, we believe that the auditory thalamic circuitry plays an important role in generating novel complex representations for specific features found in natural sounds.

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