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Multiple Sources of Cholinergic Input to the Superior Olivary Complex

The superior olivary complex (SOC) is a major computation center in the brainstem auditory system. Despite previous reports of high expression levels of cholinergic receptors in the SOC, few studies have addressed the functional role of acetylcholine in the region. The source of the cholinergic inne...

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Autores principales: Beebe, Nichole L., Zhang, Chao, Burger, R. Michael, Schofield, Brett R.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8319744/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34335196
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2021.715369
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author Beebe, Nichole L.
Zhang, Chao
Burger, R. Michael
Schofield, Brett R.
author_facet Beebe, Nichole L.
Zhang, Chao
Burger, R. Michael
Schofield, Brett R.
author_sort Beebe, Nichole L.
collection PubMed
description The superior olivary complex (SOC) is a major computation center in the brainstem auditory system. Despite previous reports of high expression levels of cholinergic receptors in the SOC, few studies have addressed the functional role of acetylcholine in the region. The source of the cholinergic innervation is unknown for all but one of the nuclei of the SOC, limiting our understanding of cholinergic modulation. The medial nucleus of the trapezoid body, a key inhibitory link in monaural and binaural circuits, receives cholinergic input from other SOC nuclei and also from the pontomesencephalic tegmentum. Here, we investigate whether these same regions are sources of cholinergic input to other SOC nuclei. We also investigate whether individual cholinergic cells can send collateral projections bilaterally (i.e., into both SOCs), as has been shown at other levels of the subcortical auditory system. We injected retrograde tract tracers into the SOC in gerbils, then identified retrogradely-labeled cells that were also immunolabeled for choline acetyltransferase, a marker for cholinergic cells. We found that both the SOC and the pontomesencephalic tegmentum (PMT) send cholinergic projections into the SOC, and these projections appear to innervate all major SOC nuclei. We also observed a small cholinergic projection into the SOC from the lateral paragigantocellular nucleus of the reticular formation. These various sources likely serve different functions; e.g., the PMT has been associated with things such as arousal and sensory gating whereas the SOC may provide feedback more closely tuned to specific auditory stimuli. Further, individual cholinergic neurons in each of these regions can send branching projections into both SOCs. Such projections present an opportunity for cholinergic modulation to be coordinated across the auditory brainstem.
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spelling pubmed-83197442021-07-30 Multiple Sources of Cholinergic Input to the Superior Olivary Complex Beebe, Nichole L. Zhang, Chao Burger, R. Michael Schofield, Brett R. Front Neural Circuits Neuroscience The superior olivary complex (SOC) is a major computation center in the brainstem auditory system. Despite previous reports of high expression levels of cholinergic receptors in the SOC, few studies have addressed the functional role of acetylcholine in the region. The source of the cholinergic innervation is unknown for all but one of the nuclei of the SOC, limiting our understanding of cholinergic modulation. The medial nucleus of the trapezoid body, a key inhibitory link in monaural and binaural circuits, receives cholinergic input from other SOC nuclei and also from the pontomesencephalic tegmentum. Here, we investigate whether these same regions are sources of cholinergic input to other SOC nuclei. We also investigate whether individual cholinergic cells can send collateral projections bilaterally (i.e., into both SOCs), as has been shown at other levels of the subcortical auditory system. We injected retrograde tract tracers into the SOC in gerbils, then identified retrogradely-labeled cells that were also immunolabeled for choline acetyltransferase, a marker for cholinergic cells. We found that both the SOC and the pontomesencephalic tegmentum (PMT) send cholinergic projections into the SOC, and these projections appear to innervate all major SOC nuclei. We also observed a small cholinergic projection into the SOC from the lateral paragigantocellular nucleus of the reticular formation. These various sources likely serve different functions; e.g., the PMT has been associated with things such as arousal and sensory gating whereas the SOC may provide feedback more closely tuned to specific auditory stimuli. Further, individual cholinergic neurons in each of these regions can send branching projections into both SOCs. Such projections present an opportunity for cholinergic modulation to be coordinated across the auditory brainstem. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-07-15 /pmc/articles/PMC8319744/ /pubmed/34335196 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2021.715369 Text en Copyright © 2021 Beebe, Zhang, Burger and Schofield. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Neuroscience
Beebe, Nichole L.
Zhang, Chao
Burger, R. Michael
Schofield, Brett R.
Multiple Sources of Cholinergic Input to the Superior Olivary Complex
title Multiple Sources of Cholinergic Input to the Superior Olivary Complex
title_full Multiple Sources of Cholinergic Input to the Superior Olivary Complex
title_fullStr Multiple Sources of Cholinergic Input to the Superior Olivary Complex
title_full_unstemmed Multiple Sources of Cholinergic Input to the Superior Olivary Complex
title_short Multiple Sources of Cholinergic Input to the Superior Olivary Complex
title_sort multiple sources of cholinergic input to the superior olivary complex
topic Neuroscience
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8319744/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34335196
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2021.715369
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