Acoustical Enrichment during Early Development Improves Response Reliability in the Adult Auditory Cortex of the Rat

Neural Plasticity ◽

10.1155/2018/5903720 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2018 ◽

pp. 1-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Zbyněk Bureš ◽

Kateryna Pysanenko ◽

Jiří Lindovský ◽

Josef Syka

Keyword(s):

Auditory Cortex ◽

Early Development ◽

Phase Locking ◽

Receptive Fields ◽

Acoustic Environment ◽

Rat Pups ◽

Temporal Course ◽

Rate Coding ◽

Auditory Experience ◽

Discharge Patterns

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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Organization of Inhibitory Frequency Receptive Fields in Cat Primary Auditory Cortex

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.1999.82.5.2358 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 82 (5) ◽

pp. 2358-2371 ◽

Cited By ~ 108

Author(s):

M. L. Sutter ◽

C. E. Schreiner ◽

M. McLean ◽

K. N. O'connor ◽

W. C. Loftus

Keyword(s):

Auditory Cortex ◽

Regional Differences ◽

Receptive Fields ◽

Primary Auditory Cortex ◽

Inhibitory Response ◽

Neuronal Responses ◽

Acoustic Environment ◽

High Incidence ◽

Auditory Systems ◽

Spectral Patterns

Based on properties of excitatory frequency (spectral) receptive fields (esRFs), previous studies have indicated that cat primary auditory cortex (A1) is composed of functionally distinct dorsal and ventral subdivisions. Dorsal A1 (A1d) has been suggested to be involved in analyzing complex spectral patterns, whereas ventral A1 (A1v) appears better suited for analyzing narrowband sounds. However, these studies were based on single-tone stimuli and did not consider how neuronal responses to tones are modulated when the tones are part of a more complex acoustic environment. In the visual and peripheral auditory systems, stimulus components outside of the esRF can exert strong modulatory effects on responses. We investigated the organization of inhibitory frequency regions outside of the pure-tone esRF in single neurons in cat A1. We found a high incidence of inhibitory response areas (in 95% of sampled neurons) and a wide variety in the structure of inhibitory bands ranging from a single band to more than four distinct inhibitory regions. Unlike the auditory nerve where most fibers possess two surrounding “lateral” suppression bands, only 38% of A1 cells had this simple structure. The word lateral is defined in this sense to be inhibition or suppression that extends beyond the low- and high-frequency borders of the esRF. Regional differences in the distribution of inhibitory RF structure across A1 were evident. In A1d, only 16% of the cells had simple two-banded lateral RF organization, whereas 50% of A1v cells had this organization. This nonhomogeneous topographic distribution of inhibitory properties is consistent with the hypothesis that A1 is composed of at least two functionally distinct subdivisions that may be part of different auditory cortical processing streams.

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Tone Frequency Maps and Receptive Fields in the Developing Chinchilla Auditory Cortex

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00569.2004 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 93 (1) ◽

pp. 454-466 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Martin Pienkowski ◽

Robert V. Harrison

Keyword(s):

Auditory Cortex ◽

Receptive Fields ◽

Sound Stimulation ◽

Tone Frequency ◽

Acoustic Environment ◽

Hearing Sensitivity ◽

Temporal Complexity ◽

Ketamine Anesthesia ◽

Middle Ear Disease ◽

Cortical Receptive Fields

Single-unit responses to tone pip stimuli were isolated from numerous microelectrode penetrations of auditory cortex (under ketamine anesthesia) in the developing chinchilla ( laniger), a precocious mammal. Results are reported at postnatal day 3 (P3), P15, and P30, and from adult animals. Hearing sensitivity and spike firing rates were mature in the youngest group. The topographic representation of sound frequency (tonotopic map) in primary and secondary auditory cortex was also well ordered and sharply tuned by P3. The spectral-temporal complexity of cortical receptive fields, on the other hand, increased progressively (past P30) to adulthood. The (purported) refinement of initially diffuse tonotopic projections to cortex thus seems to occur in utero in the chinchilla, where external (and maternal) sounds are considerably attenuated and might not contribute to the mechanism(s) involved. This compares well with recent studies of vision, suggesting that the refinement of the retinotopic map does not require external light, but rather waves of (correlated) spontaneous activity on the retina. In contrast, it is most probable that selectivity for more complex sound features, such as frequency stacks and glides, develops under the influence of the postnatal acoustic environment and that inadequate sound stimulation in early development (e.g., due to chronic middle ear disease) impairs the formation of the requisite intracortical (and/or subcortical) circuitry.

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The Effect of Complex Acoustic Environment during Early Development on the Responses of Auditory Cortex Neurons in Rats

Neuroscience ◽

10.1016/j.neuroscience.2017.11.049 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 371 ◽

pp. 221-228 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Kateryna Pysanenko ◽

Zbyněk Bureš ◽

Jiří Lindovský ◽

Josef Syka

Keyword(s):

Auditory Cortex ◽

Early Development ◽

Acoustic Environment

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Early auditory experience-induced composition/ratio changes of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunit expression and effects of D-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid chronic blockade in rat auditory cortex

Journal of Neuroscience Research ◽

10.1002/jnr.21936 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 87 (5) ◽

pp. 1123-1134 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Yilei Cui ◽

Jiping Zhang ◽

Rui Cai ◽

Xinde Sun

Keyword(s):

Auditory Cortex ◽

Receptor Subunit ◽

Composition Ratio ◽

Aspartate Receptor ◽

Subunit Expression ◽

Auditory Experience

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Component analysis reveals sharp tuning of the local field potential in the guinea pig auditory cortex

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00040.2012 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 109 (1) ◽

pp. 261-272 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Alain de Cheveigné ◽

Jean-Marc Edeline ◽

Quentin Gaucher ◽

Boris Gourévitch

Keyword(s):

Auditory Cortex ◽

Local Field ◽

Receptive Fields ◽

Field Potential ◽

Component Analysis ◽

Electrode Arrays ◽

Linear Combinations ◽

Spectrotemporal Receptive Fields ◽

Analysis Technique ◽

Channel Electrode

Local field potentials (LFPs) recorded in the auditory cortex of mammals are known to reveal weakly selective and often multimodal spectrotemporal receptive fields in contrast to spiking activity. This may in part reflect the wider “listening sphere” of LFPs relative to spikes due to the greater current spread at low than high frequencies. We recorded LFPs and spikes from auditory cortex of guinea pigs using 16-channel electrode arrays. LFPs were processed by a component analysis technique that produces optimally tuned linear combinations of electrode signals. Linear combinations of LFPs were found to have sharply tuned responses, closer to spike-related tuning. The existence of a sharply tuned component implies that a cortical neuron (or group of neurons) capable of forming a linear combination of its inputs has access to that information. Linear combinations of signals from electrode arrays reveal information latent in the subspace spanned by multichannel LFP recordings and are justified by the fact that the observations themselves are linear combinations of neural sources.

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Stimulus dependence of spectro-temporal receptive fields in cat primary auditory cortex

Hearing Research ◽

10.1016/j.heares.2004.05.011 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 196 (1-2) ◽

pp. 119-133 ◽

Cited By ~ 54

Author(s):

Pamela A. Valentine ◽

Jos J. Eggermont

Keyword(s):

Auditory Cortex ◽

Receptive Fields ◽

Primary Auditory Cortex

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The impact of the acoustic environment on human emotion and experience: A case study of worship spaces

Building Acoustics ◽

10.1177/1351010x211068850 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 1351010X2110688

Author(s):

Alaa Algargoosh ◽

Babak Soleimani ◽

Sile O’Modhrain ◽

Mojtaba Navvab

Keyword(s):

Deep Understanding ◽

Well Being ◽

Self Report ◽

Response Analysis ◽

Emotional Impact ◽

Acoustic Characteristics ◽

Acoustic Environment ◽

Auditory Experience ◽

The Impact

People’s interactions with the environment shape their experiences. Thus, understanding these interactions is critical to enhancing human well-being. Aural attributes play a significant role in shaping the perception of space in addition to visual attributes. It is well known that sounds evoke an emotional response, but less is known about how the acoustic characteristics of environments reinforce such an emotional impact. By adopting virtual reality as a platform for recreating 3D sounds and 360° visuals of built environments of worship spaces as case studies, this study aims to investigate the influence of the acoustic environment considering audiovisual congruency on enhancing the human experience through self-report and physiological response analysis. It also examines the role of cultural background in terms of familiarity with the acoustic environment. The convergent mixed-methods approach, merging both quantitative and qualitative analysis, provides a deep understanding of the role of the acoustic environment in enhancing the auditory experience. The results show that the acoustic environment and audiovisual congruency amplify the intensity of the emotional impact, and the amplification of the impact can vary depending on the acoustic environment of the building. They also reveal that familiarity with sound and acoustic characteristics can increase this impact.

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Neuronal Activity in Somatosensory Cortex of Monkeys Using a Precision Grip. I. Receptive Fields and Discharge Patterns

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.1999.81.2.825 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 81 (2) ◽

pp. 825-834 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Iran Salimi ◽

Thomas Brochier ◽

Allan M. Smith

Keyword(s):

Receptive Field ◽

Somatosensory Cortex ◽

Neuronal Activity ◽

Single Cells ◽

Precision Grip ◽

Receptive Fields ◽

Pressure Change ◽

Discharge Pattern ◽

Cortical Cells ◽

Discharge Patterns

Neuronal activity in somatosensory cortex of monkeys using a precision grip. I. Receptive fields and discharge patterns. Three adolescent Macaca fascicularis monkeys weighing between 3.5 and 4 kg were trained to use a precision grip to grasp a metal tab mounted on a low friction vertical track and to lift and hold it in a 12- to 25-mm position window for 1 s. The surface texture of the metal tab in contact with the fingers and the weight of the object could be varied. The activity of 386 single cells with cutaneous receptive fields contacting the metal tab were recorded in Brodmann’s areas 3b, 1, 2, 5, and 7 of the somatosensory cortex. In this first of a series of papers, we describe three types of discharge pattern, the receptive-field properties, and the anatomic distribution of the neurons. The majority of the receptive fields were cutaneous and covered less than one digit, and a χ2 test did not reveal any significant differences in the Brodmann’s areas representing the thumb and index finger. Two broad categories of discharge pattern cells were identified. The first category, dynamic cells, showed a brief increase in activity beginning near grip onset, which quickly subsided despite continued pressure applied to the receptive field. Some of the dynamic neurons responded to both skin indentation and release. The second category, static cells, had higher activity during the stationary holding phase of the task. These static neurons demonstrated varying degrees of sensitivity to rates of pressure change on the skin. The percentage of dynamic versus static cells was about equal for areas 3b, 2, 5, and 7. Only area 1 had a higher proportion of dynamic cells (76%). A third category was identified that contained cells with significant pregrip activity and included cortical cells with both dynamic or static discharge patterns. Cells in this category showed activity increases before movement in the absence of receptive-field stimulation, suggesting that, in addition to peripheral cutaneous input, these cells also receive strong excitation from movement-related regions of the brain.

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Delayed Inhibition in Cortical Receptive Fields and the Discrimination of Complex Stimuli

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00144.2005 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 94 (4) ◽

pp. 2970-2975 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Rajiv Narayan ◽

Ayla Ergün ◽

Kamal Sen

Keyword(s):

Auditory Cortex ◽

Temporal Structure ◽

Receptive Fields ◽

Primary Auditory Cortex ◽

Natural Sounds ◽

Functional Roles ◽

Complex Stimuli ◽

Animal Vocalizations ◽

Field L ◽

Cortical Receptive Fields

Although auditory cortex is thought to play an important role in processing complex natural sounds such as speech and animal vocalizations, the specific functional roles of cortical receptive fields (RFs) remain unclear. Here, we study the relationship between a behaviorally important function: the discrimination of natural sounds and the structure of cortical RFs. We examine this problem in the model system of songbirds, using a computational approach. First, we constructed model neurons based on the spectral temporal RF (STRF), a widely used description of auditory cortical RFs. We focused on delayed inhibitory STRFs, a class of STRFs experimentally observed in primary auditory cortex (ACx) and its analog in songbirds (field L), which consist of an excitatory subregion and a delayed inhibitory subregion cotuned to a characteristic frequency. We quantified the discrimination of birdsongs by model neurons, examining both the dynamics and temporal resolution of discrimination, using a recently proposed spike distance metric (SDM). We found that single model neurons with delayed inhibitory STRFs can discriminate accurately between songs. Discrimination improves dramatically when the temporal structure of the neural response at fine timescales is considered. When we compared discrimination by model neurons with and without the inhibitory subregion, we found that the presence of the inhibitory subregion can improve discrimination. Finally, we modeled a cortical microcircuit with delayed synaptic inhibition, a candidate mechanism underlying delayed inhibitory STRFs, and showed that blocking inhibition in this model circuit degrades discrimination.

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