Parvalbumin neurons enhance temporal coding and reduce cortical noise in complex auditory scenes
Abstract Cortical representations supporting many cognitive abilities emerge from underlying circuits comprised of several different cell types. However, cell type-specific contributions to rate and timing-based cortical coding are not well-understood. Here, we investigated the role of parvalbumin n...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Communications Biology |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-05126-0 |
| _version_ | 1797774059233083392 |
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| author | Jian Carlo Nocon Howard J. Gritton Nicholas M. James Rebecca A. Mount Zhili Qu Xue Han Kamal Sen |
| author_facet | Jian Carlo Nocon Howard J. Gritton Nicholas M. James Rebecca A. Mount Zhili Qu Xue Han Kamal Sen |
| author_sort | Jian Carlo Nocon |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Cortical representations supporting many cognitive abilities emerge from underlying circuits comprised of several different cell types. However, cell type-specific contributions to rate and timing-based cortical coding are not well-understood. Here, we investigated the role of parvalbumin neurons in cortical complex scene analysis. Many complex scenes contain sensory stimuli which are highly dynamic in time and compete with stimuli at other spatial locations. Parvalbumin neurons play a fundamental role in balancing excitation and inhibition in cortex and sculpting cortical temporal dynamics; yet their specific role in encoding complex scenes via timing-based coding, and the robustness of temporal representations to spatial competition, has not been investigated. Here, we address these questions in auditory cortex of mice using a cocktail party-like paradigm, integrating electrophysiology, optogenetic manipulations, and a family of spike-distance metrics, to dissect parvalbumin neurons’ contributions towards rate and timing-based coding. We find that suppressing parvalbumin neurons degrades cortical discrimination of dynamic sounds in a cocktail party-like setting via changes in rapid temporal modulations in rate and spike timing, and over a wide range of time-scales. Our findings suggest that parvalbumin neurons play a critical role in enhancing cortical temporal coding and reducing cortical noise, thereby improving representations of dynamic stimuli in complex scenes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T22:15:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f27deb7592dd4792a9f046d19c46b52c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2399-3642 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T22:15:27Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-f27deb7592dd4792a9f046d19c46b52c2023-07-23T11:22:45ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Biology2399-36422023-07-016111410.1038/s42003-023-05126-0Parvalbumin neurons enhance temporal coding and reduce cortical noise in complex auditory scenesJian Carlo Nocon0Howard J. Gritton1Nicholas M. James2Rebecca A. Mount3Zhili Qu4Xue Han5Kamal Sen6Neurophotonics Center, Boston UniversityDepartment of Comparative Biosciences, University of IllinoisNeurophotonics Center, Boston UniversityNeurophotonics Center, Boston UniversityDepartment of Comparative Biosciences, University of IllinoisNeurophotonics Center, Boston UniversityNeurophotonics Center, Boston UniversityAbstract Cortical representations supporting many cognitive abilities emerge from underlying circuits comprised of several different cell types. However, cell type-specific contributions to rate and timing-based cortical coding are not well-understood. Here, we investigated the role of parvalbumin neurons in cortical complex scene analysis. Many complex scenes contain sensory stimuli which are highly dynamic in time and compete with stimuli at other spatial locations. Parvalbumin neurons play a fundamental role in balancing excitation and inhibition in cortex and sculpting cortical temporal dynamics; yet their specific role in encoding complex scenes via timing-based coding, and the robustness of temporal representations to spatial competition, has not been investigated. Here, we address these questions in auditory cortex of mice using a cocktail party-like paradigm, integrating electrophysiology, optogenetic manipulations, and a family of spike-distance metrics, to dissect parvalbumin neurons’ contributions towards rate and timing-based coding. We find that suppressing parvalbumin neurons degrades cortical discrimination of dynamic sounds in a cocktail party-like setting via changes in rapid temporal modulations in rate and spike timing, and over a wide range of time-scales. Our findings suggest that parvalbumin neurons play a critical role in enhancing cortical temporal coding and reducing cortical noise, thereby improving representations of dynamic stimuli in complex scenes.https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-05126-0 |
| spellingShingle | Jian Carlo Nocon Howard J. Gritton Nicholas M. James Rebecca A. Mount Zhili Qu Xue Han Kamal Sen Parvalbumin neurons enhance temporal coding and reduce cortical noise in complex auditory scenes Communications Biology |
| title | Parvalbumin neurons enhance temporal coding and reduce cortical noise in complex auditory scenes |
| title_full | Parvalbumin neurons enhance temporal coding and reduce cortical noise in complex auditory scenes |
| title_fullStr | Parvalbumin neurons enhance temporal coding and reduce cortical noise in complex auditory scenes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Parvalbumin neurons enhance temporal coding and reduce cortical noise in complex auditory scenes |
| title_short | Parvalbumin neurons enhance temporal coding and reduce cortical noise in complex auditory scenes |
| title_sort | parvalbumin neurons enhance temporal coding and reduce cortical noise in complex auditory scenes |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-05126-0 |
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