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Emergence and function of cortical offset responses in sound termination detection
Magdalena Solyga1, Tania Rinaldi Barkat1
1Department of Biomedicine, Basel University, Basel, Switzerland.
Elife
|December 15, 2021
Summary
Auditory cortical offset responses are crucial for detecting sound termination and changes in sound, impacting mouse perception and guiding central auditory system processing.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Auditory Neuroscience
- Sensory Processing
Background:
- Offset responses in auditory processing occur after sound termination.
- Their role in the central auditory system is currently unknown.
- Investigating their behavioral relevance and circuit mechanisms is essential.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the behavioral relevance of cortical offset responses.
- To elucidate the circuit mechanisms underlying these responses.
- To understand how offset responses contribute to auditory perception.
Main Methods:
- In vivo electrophysiology in the auditory cortex and thalamus of awake mice.
- Behavioral experiments to assess sound termination detection.
- Manipulation of auditory cortical offset responses.
Main Results:
- Minimizing offset responses impaired mouse ability to detect sound termination.
- Cortical offset responses are generated de novo and amplified in the central auditory system.
- Offset responses encode information beyond silence, including sound trajectory changes.
Conclusions:
- Cortical offset responses play a critical role in perceiving sound termination.
- These responses are actively generated and modified within the central auditory system.
- They are vital for processing temporally discontinuous sounds relevant to speech and vocalizations.
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