Stimulus-specific prediction error neurons in mouse auditory cortex.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Computational Neuroscience

Background:

• Predictive processing relies on comparing expectations with sensory experiences.
• Neural responses to unexpected stimuli may indicate prediction errors, but alternative explanations exist.

Approach:

• Trained mice to associate a behavior with a specific sound outcome.
• Recorded auditory cortex activity in response to expected and unexpected sounds.
• Analyzed neural responses to identify prediction error signals.

Key Points:

• Auditory cortex suppresses responses to self-generated sounds across multiple acoustic dimensions.
• Identified a specific neuron population encoding prediction errors, not passive or expected sounds.
• These prediction error neurons require learned motor-sensory expectations.

Conclusions:

• Auditory cortex neurons explicitly encode prediction errors, not generic ones.
• Prediction error signals are specific to distinct stimulus dimensions.
• Learned expectations are crucial for the emergence of prediction error neurons.