Inhibition in the auditory brainstem enhances signal representation and regulates gain in complex acoustic environments
Inhibition plays a crucial role in neural signal processing, shaping and limiting responses. In the auditory system, inhibition already modulates second order neurons in the cochlear nucleus, e.g. spherical bushy cells (SBCs). While the physiological basis of inhibition and excitation is well descri...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2016-11-01
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| Series: | eLife |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/19295 |
| _version_ | 1828166839143759872 |
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| author | Christian Keine Rudolf Rübsamen Bernhard Englitz |
| author_facet | Christian Keine Rudolf Rübsamen Bernhard Englitz |
| author_sort | Christian Keine |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Inhibition plays a crucial role in neural signal processing, shaping and limiting responses. In the auditory system, inhibition already modulates second order neurons in the cochlear nucleus, e.g. spherical bushy cells (SBCs). While the physiological basis of inhibition and excitation is well described, their functional interaction in signal processing remains elusive. Using a combination of in vivo loose-patch recordings, iontophoretic drug application, and detailed signal analysis in the Mongolian Gerbil, we demonstrate that inhibition is widely co-tuned with excitation, and leads only to minor sharpening of the spectral response properties. Combinations of complex stimuli and neuronal input-output analysis based on spectrotemporal receptive fields revealed inhibition to render the neuronal output temporally sparser and more reproducible than the input. Overall, inhibition plays a central role in improving the temporal response fidelity of SBCs across a wide range of input intensities and thereby provides the basis for high-fidelity signal processing. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T02:07:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7269f58cedf445a798a01493deaa3c27 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T02:07:51Z |
| publishDate | 2016-11-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj.art-7269f58cedf445a798a01493deaa3c272022-12-22T03:52:29ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2016-11-01510.7554/eLife.19295Inhibition in the auditory brainstem enhances signal representation and regulates gain in complex acoustic environmentsChristian Keine0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8953-2593Rudolf Rübsamen1Bernhard Englitz2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9106-0356Faculty of Bioscience, Pharmacy and Psychology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, GermanyFaculty of Bioscience, Pharmacy and Psychology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, GermanyDepartment of Neurophysiology, Donders Center for Neuroscience, Radboud University, Nijmegen, NetherlandsInhibition plays a crucial role in neural signal processing, shaping and limiting responses. In the auditory system, inhibition already modulates second order neurons in the cochlear nucleus, e.g. spherical bushy cells (SBCs). While the physiological basis of inhibition and excitation is well described, their functional interaction in signal processing remains elusive. Using a combination of in vivo loose-patch recordings, iontophoretic drug application, and detailed signal analysis in the Mongolian Gerbil, we demonstrate that inhibition is widely co-tuned with excitation, and leads only to minor sharpening of the spectral response properties. Combinations of complex stimuli and neuronal input-output analysis based on spectrotemporal receptive fields revealed inhibition to render the neuronal output temporally sparser and more reproducible than the input. Overall, inhibition plays a central role in improving the temporal response fidelity of SBCs across a wide range of input intensities and thereby provides the basis for high-fidelity signal processing.https://elifesciences.org/articles/19295inhibitionspherical bushy cellcochlear nucleusMongolian gerbilsound localization |
| spellingShingle | Christian Keine Rudolf Rübsamen Bernhard Englitz Inhibition in the auditory brainstem enhances signal representation and regulates gain in complex acoustic environments eLife inhibition spherical bushy cell cochlear nucleus Mongolian gerbil sound localization |
| title | Inhibition in the auditory brainstem enhances signal representation and regulates gain in complex acoustic environments |
| title_full | Inhibition in the auditory brainstem enhances signal representation and regulates gain in complex acoustic environments |
| title_fullStr | Inhibition in the auditory brainstem enhances signal representation and regulates gain in complex acoustic environments |
| title_full_unstemmed | Inhibition in the auditory brainstem enhances signal representation and regulates gain in complex acoustic environments |
| title_short | Inhibition in the auditory brainstem enhances signal representation and regulates gain in complex acoustic environments |
| title_sort | inhibition in the auditory brainstem enhances signal representation and regulates gain in complex acoustic environments |
| topic | inhibition spherical bushy cell cochlear nucleus Mongolian gerbil sound localization |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/19295 |
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