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The representation of sound localization cues in the barn owl's inferior colliculus

The barn owl is a well-known model system for studying auditory processing and sound localization. This article reviews the morphological and functional organization, as well as the role of the underlying microcircuits, of the barn owl's inferior colliculus (IC). We focus on the processing of f...

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Autores principales: Singheiser, Martin, Gutfreund, Yoram, Wagner, Hermann
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3394089/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22798945
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2012.00045
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author Singheiser, Martin
Gutfreund, Yoram
Wagner, Hermann
author_facet Singheiser, Martin
Gutfreund, Yoram
Wagner, Hermann
author_sort Singheiser, Martin
collection PubMed
description The barn owl is a well-known model system for studying auditory processing and sound localization. This article reviews the morphological and functional organization, as well as the role of the underlying microcircuits, of the barn owl's inferior colliculus (IC). We focus on the processing of frequency and interaural time (ITD) and level differences (ILD). We first summarize the morphology of the sub-nuclei belonging to the IC and their differentiation by antero- and retrograde labeling and by staining with various antibodies. We then focus on the response properties of neurons in the three major sub-nuclei of IC [core of the central nucleus of the IC (ICCc), lateral shell of the central nucleus of the IC (ICCls), and the external nucleus of the IC (ICX)]. ICCc projects to ICCls, which in turn sends its information to ICX. The responses of neurons in ICCc are sensitive to changes in ITD but not to changes in ILD. The distribution of ITD sensitivity with frequency in ICCc can only partly be explained by optimal coding. We continue with the tuning properties of ICCls neurons, the first station in the midbrain where the ITD and ILD pathways merge after they have split at the level of the cochlear nucleus. The ICCc and ICCls share similar ITD and frequency tuning. By contrast, ICCls shows sigmoidal ILD tuning which is absent in ICCc. Both ICCc and ICCls project to the forebrain, and ICCls also projects to ICX, where space-specific neurons are found. Space-specific neurons exhibit side peak suppression in ITD tuning, bell-shaped ILD tuning, and are broadly tuned to frequency. These neurons respond only to restricted positions of auditory space and form a map of two-dimensional auditory space. Finally, we briefly review major IC features, including multiplication-like computations, correlates of echo suppression, plasticity, and adaptation.
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spelling pubmed-33940892012-07-13 The representation of sound localization cues in the barn owl's inferior colliculus Singheiser, Martin Gutfreund, Yoram Wagner, Hermann Front Neural Circuits Neuroscience The barn owl is a well-known model system for studying auditory processing and sound localization. This article reviews the morphological and functional organization, as well as the role of the underlying microcircuits, of the barn owl's inferior colliculus (IC). We focus on the processing of frequency and interaural time (ITD) and level differences (ILD). We first summarize the morphology of the sub-nuclei belonging to the IC and their differentiation by antero- and retrograde labeling and by staining with various antibodies. We then focus on the response properties of neurons in the three major sub-nuclei of IC [core of the central nucleus of the IC (ICCc), lateral shell of the central nucleus of the IC (ICCls), and the external nucleus of the IC (ICX)]. ICCc projects to ICCls, which in turn sends its information to ICX. The responses of neurons in ICCc are sensitive to changes in ITD but not to changes in ILD. The distribution of ITD sensitivity with frequency in ICCc can only partly be explained by optimal coding. We continue with the tuning properties of ICCls neurons, the first station in the midbrain where the ITD and ILD pathways merge after they have split at the level of the cochlear nucleus. The ICCc and ICCls share similar ITD and frequency tuning. By contrast, ICCls shows sigmoidal ILD tuning which is absent in ICCc. Both ICCc and ICCls project to the forebrain, and ICCls also projects to ICX, where space-specific neurons are found. Space-specific neurons exhibit side peak suppression in ITD tuning, bell-shaped ILD tuning, and are broadly tuned to frequency. These neurons respond only to restricted positions of auditory space and form a map of two-dimensional auditory space. Finally, we briefly review major IC features, including multiplication-like computations, correlates of echo suppression, plasticity, and adaptation. Frontiers Media S.A. 2012-07-11 /pmc/articles/PMC3394089/ /pubmed/22798945 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2012.00045 Text en Copyright © 2012 Singheiser, Gutfreund and Wagner. http://www.frontiersin.org/licenseagreement This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in other forums, provided the original authors and source are credited and subject to any copyright notices concerning any third-party graphics etc.
spellingShingle Neuroscience
Singheiser, Martin
Gutfreund, Yoram
Wagner, Hermann
The representation of sound localization cues in the barn owl's inferior colliculus
title The representation of sound localization cues in the barn owl's inferior colliculus
title_full The representation of sound localization cues in the barn owl's inferior colliculus
title_fullStr The representation of sound localization cues in the barn owl's inferior colliculus
title_full_unstemmed The representation of sound localization cues in the barn owl's inferior colliculus
title_short The representation of sound localization cues in the barn owl's inferior colliculus
title_sort representation of sound localization cues in the barn owl's inferior colliculus
topic Neuroscience
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3394089/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22798945
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2012.00045
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