Spatial tuning to sound-source azimuth in the inferior colliculus of unanesthetized rabbit

Despite decades of research devoted to the study of inferior colliculus (IC) neurons' tuning to sound-source azimuth, there remain many unanswered questions because no previous study has examined azimuth tuning over a full range of 360° azimuths at a wide range of stimulus levels in an unanesthetized preparation. Furthermore, a comparison of azimuth tuning to binaural and contralateral ear stimulation over ranges of full azimuths and widely varying stimulus levels has not previously been reported. To fill this void, we have conducted a study of azimuth tuning in the IC of the unanesthetized rabbit over a 300° range of azimuths at stimulus levels of 10-50 dB above neural threshold to both binaural and contralateral ear stimulation using virtual auditory space stimuli. This study provides systematic evidence for neural coding of azimuth. We found the following: 1) level-tolerant azimuth tuning was observed in the top 35% regarding vector strength and in the top 15% regarding vector angle of IC neurons; 2) preserved azimuth tuning to binaural stimulation at high stimulus levels was created as a consequence of binaural facilitation in the contralateral sound field and binaural suppression in the ipsilateral sound field; 3) the direction of azimuth tuning to binaural stimulation was primarily in the contralateral sound field, and its center shifted laterally toward -90° with increasing stimulus level; 4) at 10 dB, azimuth tuning to binaural and contralateral stimulation was similar, indicating that it was mediated by monaural mechanisms; and 5) at higher stimulus levels, azimuth tuning to contralateral ear stimulation was severely degraded. These findings form a foundation for understanding neural mechanisms of localizing sound-source azimuth.