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Article
| Open Access
Subcortical circuits mediate communication between primary sensory cortical areas in mice
In the primary auditory cortex, visual or tactile stimuli can modulate acoustically-driven activity. Here, the authors show that circuits linking the primary somatosensory cortex to both the auditory midbrain and thalamus allow tactile inputs to modulate auditory thalamocortical processing.
- Michael Lohse
- , Johannes C. Dahmen
- & Andrew J. King
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Article
| Open Access
Spectral cues are necessary to encode azimuthal auditory space in the mouse superior colliculus
Interaural timing and level differences had been considered the two important cues for horizontal sound localization. Here, the authors show that the third cue, spectral information, plays an essential role in the encoding of the azimuthal auditory map in the mouse superior colliculus.
- Shinya Ito
- , Yufei Si
- & Alan M. Litke
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Article
| Open Access
Neural circuits underlying auditory contrast gain control and their perceptual implications
Auditory contrast gain control helps us perceive sounds as constant despite changes in the environment or background noise. Here, the authors show that neurons in the auditory thalamus and midbrain of mice display independent contrast gain control, not just the cortex as previously thought.
- Michael Lohse
- , Victoria M. Bajo
- & Ben D. B. Willmore
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Article
| Open Access
Hidden hearing loss selectively impairs neural adaptation to loud sound environments
Hidden hearing loss (HHL) arises through subtle damage to the synapses of hair cells in the inner ear before audiograms reveal hearing threshold shifts. Here, the authors report that HHL in a mouse model disrupts the neural encoding of loud sound environments in the central auditory system.
- Warren Michael Henry Bakay
- , Lucy Anne Anderson
- & Roland Schaette
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Article
| Open Access
Neurons along the auditory pathway exhibit a hierarchical organization of prediction error
Perception can be explained by predictive coding, but it is unclear how this theory applies at the single-neuron level. Here, authors describe how auditory patterns are encoded and detected by single neurons along the auditory pathway, demonstrating that prediction error exists in single auditory neurons.
- Gloria G. Parras
- , Javier Nieto-Diego
- & Manuel S. Malmierca
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Article
| Open Access
Meta-adaptation in the auditory midbrain under cortical influence
Neurons in the auditory midbrain are known to modify their firing rates in response to changes in sound intensity. Here the authors show that in guinea pigs, such modifications occur faster when neurons re-encounter the same environment, a phenomenon they term meta-adaptation.
- Benjamin L. Robinson
- , Nicol S. Harper
- & David McAlpine
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Multisensory training reverses midbrain lesion-induced changes and ameliorates haemianopia
Failure to attend to visual cues is a common consequence of visual cortical injury. Here, the authors demonstrate that auditory–visual cross-modal behavioural training leads to neural plasticity and reinstatement of visuomotor competency in animals rendered unilaterally blind by visual cortical removal.
- Huai Jiang
- , Barry E. Stein
- & John G. McHaffie
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Increased CRF signalling in a ventral tegmental area-interpeduncular nucleus-medial habenula circuit induces anxiety during nicotine withdrawal
Abstinent smokers experience affective withdrawal symptoms that contribute to relapse, yet the circuitry and mechanisms underlying these symptoms are unknown. Here the authors identify a critical role for a ventral tegmental area-habenula-interpeduncular circuit in nicotine withdrawal-induced anxiety.
- Rubing Zhao-Shea
- , Steven R. DeGroot
- & Andrew R. Tapper
Eye movements track prioritized auditory features in selective attention to natural speech