Corticofugal modulation of midbrain sound processing in the house mouse

An understanding of the neural mechanisms responsible for auditory information processing is incomplete without a careful examination of substantial descending pathways. This study focuses on the functional role of corticofugal projections. Our work with the house mouse reveals that the focal electrical stimulation of the primary auditory cortex leads to profound changes in auditory response properties in the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus of the midbrain. Cortical stimulation does not impact on the collicular best frequencies when the best frequencies of stimulated cortical neurons and recorded collicular neurons are similar. Rather, collicular best frequencies are shifted toward the stimulated cortical best frequencies when cortical and collicular frequencies are different. Such a shift is unrelated to the differences in minimum thresholds between cortical and collicular neurons. In addition to frequency-specific shifts in collicular best frequencies, cortical stimulation elevates collicular minimum thresholds and reduces both dynamic ranges and response magnitudes if cortical and collicular best frequencies are different. If cortical and collicular best frequencies are similar but minimum thresholds are different, collicular minimum thresholds are shifted toward the stimulated cortical thresholds; dynamic ranges and response magnitudes may either increase or decrease in this scenario. Our results suggest that the corticofugal adjustment has a centre-surround organization with regard to both cortical best frequencies and cortical minimum thresholds. The midbrain processing of sound components in the centre of cortical feedback is largely enhanced while processing in the surround is suppressed.