scholarly journals Local inhibition modulates learning-dependent song encoding in the songbird auditory cortex

2013 ◽  
Vol 109 (3) ◽  
pp. 721-733 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason V. Thompson ◽  
James M. Jeanne ◽  
Timothy Q. Gentner
Keyword(s):  
Neural Representation ◽  
Response Patterns ◽  
Acoustic Features ◽  
European Starlings ◽  
Local Inhibition ◽  
Auditory Forebrain ◽  
Inhibitory Modulation ◽  
Auditory Cortices ◽  
Caudomedial Nidopallium

Changes in inhibition during development are well documented, but the role of inhibition in adult learning-related plasticity is not understood. In songbirds, vocal recognition learning alters the neural representation of songs across the auditory forebrain, including the caudomedial nidopallium (NCM), a region analogous to mammalian secondary auditory cortices. Here, we block local inhibition with the iontophoretic application of gabazine, while simultaneously measuring song-evoked spiking activity in NCM of European starlings trained to recognize sets of conspecific songs. We find that local inhibition differentially suppresses the responses to learned and unfamiliar songs and enhances spike-rate differences between learned categories of songs. These learning-dependent response patterns emerge, in part, through inhibitory modulation of selectivity for song components and the masking of responses to specific acoustic features without altering spectrotemporal tuning. The results describe a novel form of inhibitory modulation of the encoding of learned categories and demonstrate that inhibition plays a central role in shaping the responses of neurons to learned, natural signals.

The Role of Event-Related Brain Potentials in Assessing Central Auditory Processing

2007 ◽  
Vol 18 (07) ◽  
pp. 573-589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude Alain ◽  
Kelly Tremblay
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Acoustic Signals ◽  
Auditory Scene Analysis ◽  
Neural Representation ◽  
Central Auditory Processing ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Auditory Scene ◽  
Physical Attributes ◽  
Auditory Cortices

The perception of complex acoustic signals such as speech and music depends on the interaction between peripheral and central auditory processing. As information travels from the cochlea to primary and associative auditory cortices, the incoming sound is subjected to increasingly more detailed and refined analysis. These various levels of analyses are thought to include low-level automatic processes that detect, discriminate and group sounds that are similar in physical attributes such as frequency, intensity, and location as well as higher-level schema-driven processes that reflect listeners' experience and knowledge of the auditory environment. In this review, we describe studies that have used event-related brain potentials in investigating the processing of complex acoustic signals (e.g., speech, music). In particular, we examine the role of hearing loss on the neural representation of sound and how cognitive factors and learning can help compensate for perceptual difficulties. The notion of auditory scene analysis is used as a conceptual framework for interpreting and studying the perception of sound. La percepción de señales acústicas complejas, tales como el lenguaje y la música, dependen de la interacción entre el procesamiento auditivo central y periférico. Conforme la información viaja de la cóclea a la corteza auditiva primaria y de asociación, el sonido entrante se somete un análisis progresivamente más detallado y refinado. Se cree que estos varios niveles de análisis incluyen procesos automáticos de bajo nivel que detectan, discriminan y agrupan los sonidos que son similares en cuanto a los atributos físicos, como la frecuencia, la intensidad y la localización, así como procesos dirigidos por esquemas de más alto nivel, que reflejan la experiencia y el conocimiento del sujeto del ambiente auditivo. En esta revisión, describimos estudios que han utilizado potenciales cerebrales relacionados con el evento, para investigar el procesamiento de señales acústicas complejas (p.e., lenguaje, música). En particular, examinamos el papel de las pérdidas auditivas sobre la representación neural del sonido y de cómo los factores cognitivos y el aprendizaje pueden ayudar a compensar las dificultades perceptivas. La noción de un análisis de la escena auditiva se utiliza como un marco conceptual, para interpretar y estudiar la percepción del sonido.

scholarly journals A LONGITUDINAL INVESTIGATION OF EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT AUDITORY PROCESSING IN L2 SEGMENTAL AND SUPRASEGMENTAL ACQUISITION

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Hui Sun ◽  
Kazuya Saito ◽  
Adam Tierney
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
First Language ◽  
Neural Representation ◽  
Immersion Experience ◽  
Initial Stage ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Processing Ability ◽  
Speech Learning

Abstract Precise auditory perception at a subcortical level (neural representation and encoding of sound) has been suggested as a form of implicit L2 aptitude in naturalistic settings. Emerging evidence suggests that such implicit aptitude explains some variance in L2 speech perception and production among adult learners with different first language backgrounds and immersion experience. By examining 46 Chinese learners of English, the current study longitudinally investigated the extent to which explicit and implicit auditory processing ability could predict L2 segmental and prosody acquisition over a 5-month early immersion. According to the results, participants’ L2 gains were associated with more explicit and integrative auditory processing ability (remembering and reproducing music sequences), while the role of implicit, preconscious perception appeared to be negligible at the initial stage of postpubertal L2 speech learning.

scholarly journals Effects of Melatonin on Peripheral Reproductive Function: Regulation of Testicular GnIH and Testosterone

Endocrinology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 152 (9) ◽  
pp. 3461-3470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolette L. McGuire ◽  
Kristina Kangas ◽  
George E. Bentley
Keyword(s):  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Reproductive Function ◽  
Melatonin Receptors ◽  
Sex Steroid ◽  
European Starlings ◽  
Steroid Secretion ◽  
Local Inhibition ◽  
Gonadotropin Inhibitory Hormone ◽  
The Brain

Study of seasonal reproduction has focused on the brain. Here, we show that the inhibition of sex steroid secretion can be seasonally mediated at the level of the gonad. We investigate the direct effects of melatonin on sex steroid secretion and gonadal neuropeptide expression in European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). PCR reveals starling gonads express mRNA for gonadotropin inhibitory hormone (GnIH) and its receptor (GnIHR) and melatonin receptors 1B (Mel 1B) and 1C (Mel 1C). We demonstrate that the gonadal GnIH system is regulated seasonally, possibly via a mechanism involving melatonin. GnIH/ GnIHR expression in the testes is relatively low during breeding compared with outside the breeding season. The expression patterns of Mel 1B and Mel 1C are correlated with this expression, and melatonin up-regulates the expression of GnIH mRNA in starling gonads before breeding. In vitro, GnIH and melatonin significantly decrease testosterone secretion from LH/FSH-stimulated testes before, but not during, breeding. Thus local inhibition of sex steroid secretion appears to be regulated seasonally at the level of the gonad, by a mechanism involving melatonin and the gonadal GnIH system.

scholarly journals Quantifying Sweet Taste Liker Phenotypes: Time for Some Consistency in the Classification Criteria

Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasiliki Iatridi ◽  
John Hayes ◽  
Martin Yeomans
Keyword(s):  
Cluster Analysis ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Hierarchical Cluster ◽  
Sweet Taste ◽  
Classification Criteria ◽  
Ingestive Behavior ◽  
Response Patterns ◽  
Sucrose Solutions ◽  
Liking Rating

Taste hedonics is a well-documented driver of food consumption. The role of sweetness in directing ingestive behavior is largely rooted in biology. One can then intuit that individual differences in sweet-liking may constitute an indicator of variations in the susceptibility to diet-related health outcomes. Despite half a century of research on sweet-liking, the best method to identify the distinct responses to sweet taste is still debated. To help resolve this issue, liking and intensity ratings for eight sucrose solutions ranging from 0 to 1 M were collected from 148 young adults (29% men). Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) revealed three response patterns: a sweet-liker (SL) phenotype characterized by a rise in liking as concentration increased, an inverted U-shaped phenotype with maximum liking at 0.25 M, and a sweet-disliker (SD) phenotype characterized by a decline in liking as a function of concentration. Based on sensitivity and specificity analyses, present data suggest the clearest discrimination between phenotypes is seen with 1.0 M sucrose, where a liking rating between −15 and +15 on a −50/+50 scale reliably distinguished individuals with an inverted U-shaped response from the SLs and the SDs. If the efficacy of this approach is confirmed in other populations, the discrimination criteria identified here can serve as the basis for a standard method for classifying sweet taste liker phenotypes in adults.

Acoustic Features of Rhesus Vocalizations and Their Representation in the Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex

2007 ◽  
Vol 97 (2) ◽  
pp. 1470-1484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yale E. Cohen ◽  
Frédéric Theunissen ◽  
Brian E. Russ ◽  
Patrick Gill
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Acoustic Properties ◽  
Acoustic Features ◽  
Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Communication Signals ◽  
First Order ◽  
Natural Stimuli ◽  
Spectrotemporal Receptive Field ◽  
Auditory Objects

Communication is one of the fundamental components of both human and nonhuman animal behavior. Auditory communication signals (i.e., vocalizations) are especially important in the socioecology of several species of nonhuman primates such as rhesus monkeys. In rhesus, the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vPFC) is thought to be part of a circuit involved in representing vocalizations and other auditory objects. To further our understanding of the role of the vPFC in processing vocalizations, we characterized the spectrotemporal features of rhesus vocalizations, compared these features with other classes of natural stimuli, and then related the rhesus-vocalization acoustic features to neural activity. We found that the range of these spectrotemporal features was similar to that found in other ensembles of natural stimuli, including human speech, and identified the subspace of these features that would be particularly informative to discriminate between different vocalizations. In a first neural study, however, we found that the tuning properties of vPFC neurons did not emphasize these particularly informative spectrotemporal features. In a second neural study, we found that a first-order linear model (the spectrotemporal receptive field) is not a good predictor of vPFC activity. The results of these two neural studies are consistent with the hypothesis that the vPFC is not involved in coding the first-order acoustic properties of a stimulus but is involved in processing the higher-order information needed to form representations of auditory objects.

Reciprocity, Bullying, and International Cooperation: Time-series Analysis of the Bosnia Conflict

1997 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
pp. 515-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua S. Goldstein ◽  
Jon C. Pevehouse
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
International Cooperation ◽  
Evolution Of Cooperation ◽  
Response Patterns ◽  
Strategic Response ◽  
Conflict And Cooperation ◽  
Regional Conflicts ◽  
Neoliberal Institutionalism ◽  
Events Data

Although the role of reciprocity in international cooperation is central to neoliberal institutionalism, empirical understanding of the concept remains weak. We analyze strategic response patterns—the use of reciprocity or inverse response (bullying)—in the Bosnia conflict from 1992 to 1995. We construct weekly time series of conflict and cooperation among the parties to the Bosnia war, using machine-coded events data. Time-series statistical analysis identifies several important patterns of strategic response, both reciprocal and inverse. These include bilateral responses, which are central to the concepts of reciprocity and evolution of cooperation, and triangular responses, which are central to the debates on containment versus accommodation in regional conflicts. Specifically, Serb forces displayed inverse triangular response, cooperating toward Bosnia after being punished by NATO. Outside powers displayed triangular reciprocity, increasing hostility toward Serb forces after Serbian attacks on the Bosnian government.

Involvement of AT2 receptors at NRVL in tonic baroreflex suppression by endogenous angiotensins

1997 ◽  
Vol 272 (5) ◽  
pp. H2204-H2210 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. S. Lin ◽  
J. Y. Chan ◽  
S. H. Chan
Keyword(s):  
Suppressive Effect ◽  
Angiotensin Receptors ◽  
Ang Ii ◽  
Sprague Dawley ◽  
Inhibitory Modulation ◽  
Sprague Dawley Rats ◽  
Peptide Antagonist ◽  
Endogenous Activity ◽  
At2 Receptors

We evaluated the role of endogenous angiotensin II and III (ANG II and ANG III) at the rostral nucleus reticularis ventrolateralis (NRVL) in the modulation of baroreceptor reflex (BRR) response and the subtype of angiotensin receptors involved in this process. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats anesthetized and maintained with pentobarbital sodium were used. Exogenous application of ANG II or ANG III (10, 20, or 40 pmol) by bilateral microinjection into the NRVL significantly suppressed the BRR response to transient hypertension induced by phenylephrine (5 micrograms/kg i.v.). The suppressive effect of ANG II (20 pmol) was reversed by an equimolar dose (1.6 nmol) of its peptide antagonist, [Sar1, Ile8]ANG II, and the nonpeptide antagonists for AT1 and AT2 receptors, losartan and PD-123319, respectively. On the other hand, the inhibitory action of ANG III (20 pmol) was blunted by its peptide antagonist. [Ile7]ANG III or PD-123319, but not by losartan. Blocking the endogenous activity of the angiotensins by microinjection into the bilateral NRVL of [Sar1, Ile8]ANG II, [Ile7]ANG III, or PD-123319 elicited an appreciable enhancement of the BRR response, whereas losartan produced minimal effect. These results suggest that, under physiological conditions, both endogenous ANG II and ANG III may exert a tonic inhibitory modulation on the BRR response by acting selectively on the AT2 receptors at the NRVL.

Neural Correlates of Auditory Streaming of Harmonic Complex Sounds With Different Phase Relations in the Songbird Forebrain

2011 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 188-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naoya Itatani ◽  
Georg M. Klump
Keyword(s):  
Random Phase ◽  
Phase Relations ◽  
Stream Segregation ◽  
Neural Representation ◽  
Center Frequency ◽  
Response Patterns ◽  
Harmonic Complex ◽  
Complex Sounds ◽  
Temporal Cues ◽  
Spectral Separation

It has been suggested that successively presented sounds that are perceived as separate auditory streams are represented by separate populations of neurons. Mostly, spectral separation in different peripheral filters has been identified as the cue for segregation. However, stream segregation based on temporal cues is also possible without spectral separation. Here we present sequences of ABA- triplet stimuli providing only temporal cues to neurons in the European starling auditory forebrain. A and B sounds (125 ms duration) were harmonic complexes (fundamentals 100, 200, or 400 Hz; center frequency and bandwidth chosen to fit the neurons' tuning characteristic) with identical amplitude spectra but different phase relations between components (cosine, alternating, or random phase) and presented at different rates. Differences in both rate responses and temporal response patterns of the neurons when stimulated with harmonic complexes with different phase relations provide first evidence for a mechanism allowing a separate neural representation of such stimuli. Recording sites responding >1 kHz showed enhanced rate and temporal differences compared with those responding at lower frequencies. These results demonstrate a neural correlate of streaming by temporal cues due to the variation of phase that shows striking parallels to observations in previous psychophysical studies.

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