Perfidious synaptic transmission in the guinea-pig auditory brainstem.
The presence of 'giant' synapses in the auditory brainstem is thought to be a specialization designed to encode temporal information to support perception of pitch, frequency, and sound-source localisation. These 'giant' synapses have been found in the ventral cochlear nucleus, t...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2018-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC6172016?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1818985731339583488 |
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| author | Arkadiusz Stasiak Mark Sayles Ian M Winter |
| author_facet | Arkadiusz Stasiak Mark Sayles Ian M Winter |
| author_sort | Arkadiusz Stasiak |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The presence of 'giant' synapses in the auditory brainstem is thought to be a specialization designed to encode temporal information to support perception of pitch, frequency, and sound-source localisation. These 'giant' synapses have been found in the ventral cochlear nucleus, the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body and the ventral nucleus of the lateral lemniscus. An interpretation of these synapses as simple relays has, however, been challenged by the observation in the gerbil that the action potential frequently fails in the ventral cochlear nucleus. Given the prominence of these synapses it is important to establish whether this phenomenon is unique to the gerbil or can be observed in other species. Here we examine the responses of units, thought to be the output of neurons in receipt of 'giant' synaptic endings, in the ventral cochlear nucleus and the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body in the guinea pig. We found that failure of the action-potential component, recorded from cells in the ventral cochlear nucleus, occurred in ~60% of spike waveforms when recording spontaneous activity. In the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body, we did not find evidence for action-potential failure. In the ventral cochlear nucleus action-potential failures transform the receptive field between input and output of bushy cells. Additionally, the action-potential failures result in "non-primary-like" temporal-adaptation patterns. This is important for computational models of the auditory system, which commonly assume the responses of ventral cochlear nucleus bushy cells are very similar to their "primary like" auditory-nerve-fibre inputs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T18:39:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1d56ff5a212e4d3aa143b335b12a5546 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T18:39:33Z |
| publishDate | 2018-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-1d56ff5a212e4d3aa143b335b12a55462022-12-21T19:29:51ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032018-01-011310e020371210.1371/journal.pone.0203712Perfidious synaptic transmission in the guinea-pig auditory brainstem.Arkadiusz StasiakMark SaylesIan M WinterThe presence of 'giant' synapses in the auditory brainstem is thought to be a specialization designed to encode temporal information to support perception of pitch, frequency, and sound-source localisation. These 'giant' synapses have been found in the ventral cochlear nucleus, the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body and the ventral nucleus of the lateral lemniscus. An interpretation of these synapses as simple relays has, however, been challenged by the observation in the gerbil that the action potential frequently fails in the ventral cochlear nucleus. Given the prominence of these synapses it is important to establish whether this phenomenon is unique to the gerbil or can be observed in other species. Here we examine the responses of units, thought to be the output of neurons in receipt of 'giant' synaptic endings, in the ventral cochlear nucleus and the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body in the guinea pig. We found that failure of the action-potential component, recorded from cells in the ventral cochlear nucleus, occurred in ~60% of spike waveforms when recording spontaneous activity. In the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body, we did not find evidence for action-potential failure. In the ventral cochlear nucleus action-potential failures transform the receptive field between input and output of bushy cells. Additionally, the action-potential failures result in "non-primary-like" temporal-adaptation patterns. This is important for computational models of the auditory system, which commonly assume the responses of ventral cochlear nucleus bushy cells are very similar to their "primary like" auditory-nerve-fibre inputs.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC6172016?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Arkadiusz Stasiak Mark Sayles Ian M Winter Perfidious synaptic transmission in the guinea-pig auditory brainstem. PLoS ONE |
| title | Perfidious synaptic transmission in the guinea-pig auditory brainstem. |
| title_full | Perfidious synaptic transmission in the guinea-pig auditory brainstem. |
| title_fullStr | Perfidious synaptic transmission in the guinea-pig auditory brainstem. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Perfidious synaptic transmission in the guinea-pig auditory brainstem. |
| title_short | Perfidious synaptic transmission in the guinea-pig auditory brainstem. |
| title_sort | perfidious synaptic transmission in the guinea pig auditory brainstem |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC6172016?pdf=render |
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