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Auditory cortex spatial sensitivity sharpens during task performance

Nature Neuroscience volume 14, pages 108–114 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Activity in the primary auditory cortex (A1) is essential for normal sound localization behavior, but previous studies of the spatial sensitivity of neurons in A1 have found broad spatial tuning. We tested the hypothesis that spatial tuning sharpens when an animal engages in an auditory task. Cats performed a task that required evaluation of the locations of sounds and one that required active listening, but in which sound location was irrelevant. Some 26–44% of the units recorded in A1 showed substantially sharpened spatial tuning during the behavioral tasks as compared with idle conditions, with the greatest sharpening occurring during the location-relevant task. Spatial sharpening occurred on a scale of tens of seconds and could be replicated multiple times in ∼1.5-h test sessions. Sharpening resulted primarily from increased suppression of responses to sounds at least-preferred locations. That and an observed increase in latencies suggest an important role of inhibitory mechanisms.

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Figure 1: Task-dependant modulation of spatial sensitivity.
Figure 2: Modulation of spatial sensitivity in sequential conditions.
Figure 3: PSTH plots in three task conditions from two units recorded from the left hemisphere that showed offset-dominant responses to 150-ms stimuli.
Figure 4: Comparisons of ERRF width across conditions for all units that showed excitatory responses in the first 40 ms after stimulus onset.
Figure 5: Percentage of units that showed significant sharpening or broadening of spatial tuning between condition pairs.
Figure 6: First spike latency for preferred locations was longer during behavioral conditions.
Figure 7: Spike rates decreased in the localization task primarily for stimuli at least-preferred locations.
Figure 8: Time course of the task-dependent modulation of the response at single location that showed strongest suppression when the localization task was compared with the idle condition.

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Acknowledgements

We thank I. Harrington, E. Macpherson, J. Wiler, E. Hand, G. Rising, D. Vailliencourt, C. Ellinger and Z. Onsan for technical support. We thank A. Kirby and R. Adrian for helpful comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders grants R01 DC-000420, and P30 DC-05188 (to J. Schacht).

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS

C.-C.L. and J.C.M. designed the experiments. C.-C.L. conducted the experiments. C.-C.L. collected and analyzed the data. C.-C.L. and J.C.M. wrote the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Kresge Hearing Research Institute, University of Michigan, Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA

    Chen-Chung Lee

  2. Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and Center for Hearing Research, University of California, California, Irvine, USA

    Chen-Chung Lee & John C Middlebrooks

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Correspondence to John C Middlebrooks.

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Lee, CC., Middlebrooks, J. Auditory cortex spatial sensitivity sharpens during task performance. Nat Neurosci 14, 108–114 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2713

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