Sources of Somatosensory Input to the Caudal Belt Areas of Auditory Cortex

Perception ◽  
10.1068/p5841 ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 36 (10) ◽  
pp. 1419-1430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Troy A Hackett ◽  
John F Smiley ◽  
Istvan Ulbert ◽  
George Karmos ◽  
Peter Lakatos ◽  
...  

The auditory cortex of nonhuman primates is comprised of a constellation of at least twelve interconnected areas distributed across three major regions on the superior temporal gyrus: core, belt, and parabelt. Individual areas are distinguished on the basis of unique profiles comprising architectonic features, thalamic and cortical connections, and neuron response properties. Recent demonstrations of convergent auditory – somatosensory interactions in the caudomedial (CM) and caudolateral (CL) belt areas prompted us to pursue anatomical studies to identify the source(s) of somatic input to auditory cortex. Corticocortical and thalamocortical connections were revealed by injecting neuroanatomical tracers into CM, CL, and adjoining fields of marmoset ( Callithrix jacchus jacchus) and macaque ( Macaca mulatta) monkeys. In addition to auditory cortex, the cortical connections of CM and CL included somatosensory (retroinsular, Ri; granular insula, Ig) and multisensory areas (temporal parietal occipital, temporal parietal temporal). Thalamic inputs included the medial geniculate complex and several multisensory nuclei (supra- geniculate, posterior, limitans, medial pulvinar), but not the ventroposterior complex. Injections of the core (A1, R) and rostromedial areas of auditory cortex revealed sparse multisensory connections. The results suggest that areas Ri and Ig are the principle sources of somatosensory input to the caudal belt, while multisensory regions of cortex and thalamus may also contribute. The present data add to growing evidence of multisensory convergence in cortical areas previously considered to be ‘unimodal’, and also indicate that auditory cortical areas differ in this respect.

2011 ◽  
Vol 105 (4) ◽  
pp. 1558-1573 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Ting Mao ◽  
Tian-Miao Hua ◽  
Sarah L. Pallas

Sensory neocortex is capable of considerable plasticity after sensory deprivation or damage to input pathways, especially early in development. Although plasticity can often be restorative, sometimes novel, ectopic inputs invade the affected cortical area. Invading inputs from other sensory modalities may compromise the original function or even take over, imposing a new function and preventing recovery. Using ferrets whose retinal axons were rerouted into auditory thalamus at birth, we were able to examine the effect of varying the degree of ectopic, cross-modal input on reorganization of developing auditory cortex. In particular, we assayed whether the invading visual inputs and the existing auditory inputs competed for or shared postsynaptic targets and whether the convergence of input modalities would induce multisensory processing. We demonstrate that although the cross-modal inputs create new visual neurons in auditory cortex, some auditory processing remains. The degree of damage to auditory input to the medial geniculate nucleus was directly related to the proportion of visual neurons in auditory cortex, suggesting that the visual and residual auditory inputs compete for cortical territory. Visual neurons were not segregated from auditory neurons but shared target space even on individual target cells, substantially increasing the proportion of multisensory neurons. Thus spatial convergence of visual and auditory input modalities may be sufficient to expand multisensory representations. Together these findings argue that early, patterned visual activity does not drive segregation of visual and auditory afferents and suggest that auditory function might be compromised by converging visual inputs. These results indicate possible ways in which multisensory cortical areas may form during development and evolution. They also suggest that rehabilitative strategies designed to promote recovery of function after sensory deprivation or damage need to take into account that sensory cortex may become substantially more multisensory after alteration of its input during development.


2007 ◽  
Vol 502 (6) ◽  
pp. 894-923 ◽  
Author(s):  
John F. Smiley ◽  
Troy A. Hackett ◽  
Istvan Ulbert ◽  
George Karmas ◽  
Peter Lakatos ◽  
...  

2008 ◽  
Vol 100 (4) ◽  
pp. 1699-1705 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Pastor ◽  
C. Vidaurre ◽  
M. A. Fernández-Seara ◽  
A. Villanueva ◽  
K. J. Friston

Induced oscillatory activity in the auditory cortex peaks at around 40 Hz in humans. Using regional cerebral blood flow and positron emission tomography we previously confirmed frequency-selective cortical responses to 40-Hz tones in auditory primary cortices and concomitant bilateral activation of the cerebellar hemispheres. In this study, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) we estimated the influence of 40-Hz auditory stimulation on the coupling between auditory cortex and superior temporal sulcus (STS) and Crus II, using a dynamic causal model of the interactions between medial geniculate nuclei, auditory superior temporal gyrus (STG)/STS, and the cerebellar Crus II auditory region. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that 40-Hz-selective responses in the cerebellar Crus II auditory region could be explained by frequency-specific enabling of interactions in the auditory cortico–cerebellar–thalamic loop. Our model comparison results suggest that input from auditory STG/STS to cerebellum is enhanced selectively at gamma-band frequencies around 40 Hz.


2011 ◽  
Vol 105 (6) ◽  
pp. 2634-2646 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joji Tsunada ◽  
Jung Hoon Lee ◽  
Yale E. Cohen

A “ventral” auditory pathway in nonhuman primates that originates in the core auditory cortex and ends in the prefrontal cortex is thought to be involved in components of nonspatial auditory processing. Previous work from our laboratory has indicated that neurons in the prefrontal cortex reflect monkeys' decisions during categorical judgments. Here, we tested the role of the superior temporal gyrus (STG), a region of the secondary auditory cortex that is part of this ventral pathway, during similar categorical judgments. While monkeys participated in a match-to-category task and reported whether two consecutive auditory stimuli belonged to the same category or to different categories, we recorded spiking activity from STG neurons. The auditory stimuli were morphs of two human-speech sounds ( bad and dad). We found that STG neurons represented auditory categories. However, unlike activity in the prefrontal cortex, STG activity was not modulated by the monkeys' behavioral reports (choices). This finding is consistent with the anterolateral STG's role as a part of functional circuit involved in the coding, representation, and perception of the nonspatial features of an auditory stimulus.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuno Macarico da Costa ◽  
Kevan A.C. Martin ◽  
Franziska D. Sägesser

AbstractThe projections to individual cortical areas from extrinsic sources are a major determinant of the area’s function, but we lack comprehensive quantitative input maps even for primary sensory areas in most model species. To quantify all input sources to the mouse primary auditory cortex (Au1), we made localized injections of modified rabies virus (SADΔG-mCherry) into Au1 of five C57BL/6 mice and identified all the cortical and subcortical areas containing retrogradely labeled cells. Of all neurons projecting to Au1 from extrinsic areas, 27 % were located in the ipsilateral cortex, 14 % in the contralateral cortex, and 58 % in subcortical regions (almost exclusively ipsilateral, predominantly in the medial geniculate nucleus). Although 90 % of the labeled cells in the ipsilateral cortex were located within 1 mm of Au1, most cortical areas projected to Au1, including visual, somatosensory, motor, rhinal, cingulate and piriform cortices. The hierarchical relations of the cortical areas projecting to Au1 were determined based on the proportion of cell bodies in superficial versus deep layers. Feedback projections (from deep layers 5/6) dominated, but temporal association and auditory cortices were on the same hierarchical level, providing input from both superficial and deep layers. Au1 is embedded in a densely connected network that involves a high degree of cross-modal integration.


1999 ◽  
Vol 82 (5) ◽  
pp. 2346-2357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitchell Steinschneider ◽  
Igor O. Volkov ◽  
M. Daniel Noh ◽  
P. Charles Garell ◽  
Matthew A. Howard

Voice onset time (VOT) is an important parameter of speech that denotes the time interval between consonant onset and the onset of low-frequency periodicity generated by rhythmic vocal cord vibration. Voiced stop consonants (/b/, /g/, and /d/) in syllable initial position are characterized by short VOTs, whereas unvoiced stop consonants (/p/, /k/, and t/) contain prolonged VOTs. As the VOT is increased in incremental steps, perception rapidly changes from a voiced stop consonant to an unvoiced consonant at an interval of 20–40 ms. This abrupt change in consonant identification is an example of categorical speech perception and is a central feature of phonetic discrimination. This study tested the hypothesis that VOT is represented within auditory cortex by transient responses time-locked to consonant and voicing onset. Auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) elicited by stop consonant-vowel (CV) syllables were recorded directly from Heschl's gyrus, the planum temporale, and the superior temporal gyrus in three patients undergoing evaluation for surgical remediation of medically intractable epilepsy. Voiced CV syllables elicited a triphasic sequence of field potentials within Heschl's gyrus. AEPs evoked by unvoiced CV syllables contained additional response components time-locked to voicing onset. Syllables with a VOT of 40, 60, or 80 ms evoked components time-locked to consonant release and voicing onset. In contrast, the syllable with a VOT of 20 ms evoked a markedly diminished response to voicing onset and elicited an AEP very similar in morphology to that evoked by the syllable with a 0-ms VOT. Similar response features were observed in the AEPs evoked by click trains. In this case, there was a marked decrease in amplitude of the transient response to the second click in trains with interpulse intervals of 20–25 ms. Speech-evoked AEPs recorded from the posterior superior temporal gyrus lateral to Heschl's gyrus displayed comparable response features, whereas field potentials recorded from three locations in the planum temporale did not contain components time-locked to voicing onset. This study demonstrates that VOT at least partially is represented in primary and specific secondary auditory cortical fields by synchronized activity time-locked to consonant release and voicing onset. Furthermore, AEPs exhibit features that may facilitate categorical perception of stop consonants, and these response patterns appear to be based on temporal processing limitations within auditory cortex. Demonstrations of similar speech-evoked response patterns in animals support a role for these experimental models in clarifying selected features of speech encoding.


2013 ◽  
Vol 110 (8) ◽  
pp. 1892-1902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben D. Richardson ◽  
Kenneth E. Hancock ◽  
Donald M. Caspary

Novel stimulus detection by single neurons in the auditory system, known as stimulus-specific adaptation (SSA), appears to function as a real-time filtering/gating mechanism in processing acoustic information. Particular stimulus paradigms allowing for quantification of a neuron's ability to detect novel or deviant stimuli have been used to examine SSA in the inferior colliculus, medial geniculate body (MGB), and auditory cortex of anesthetized rodents. However, the study of SSA in awake animals is limited to auditory cortex. The present study used individually advanceable tetrodes to record single-unit responses from auditory thalamus (MGB) of awake young adult and aged Fischer Brown Norway (FBN) rats to 1) examine the presence of SSA in the MGB of awake rats and 2) determine whether SSA is altered by aging in MGB. MGB single units in awake FBN rats displayed SSA in response to two stimulus paradigms: the oddball paradigm and a random blocked/interleaved presentation of a set of frequencies. SSA levels were modestly, but nonsignificantly, increased in the nonlemniscal regions of the MGB and at lower stimulus intensities, where 27 of 57 (47%) young adult MGB units displayed SSA. The present findings provide the initial description of SSA in the MGB of awake rats and support SSA as being qualitatively independent of arousal level or anesthetized state. Finally, contrary to previous studies in auditory cortex of anesthetized rats, MGB units in aged rats showed SSA levels indistinguishable from SSA levels in young adult rats, suggesting that SSA in MGB was not impacted by aging in an awake preparation.


2000 ◽  
Vol 32-33 ◽  
pp. 833-841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoru Inoue ◽  
Manabu Kimyou ◽  
Yoshiki Kashimori ◽  
Osamu Hoshino ◽  
Takeshi Kambara

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Taishi Hosaka ◽  
Marino Kimura ◽  
Yuko Yotsumoto

AbstractWe have a keen sensitivity when it comes to the perception of our own voices. We can detect not only the differences between ourselves and others, but also slight modifications of our own voices. Here, we examined the neural correlates underlying such sensitive perception of one’s own voice. In the experiments, we modified the subjects’ own voices by using five types of filters. The subjects rated the similarity of the presented voices to their own. We compared BOLD (Blood Oxygen Level Dependent) signals between the voices that subjects rated as least similar to their own voice and those they rated as most similar. The contrast revealed that the bilateral superior temporal gyrus exhibited greater activities while listening to the voice least similar to their own voice and lesser activation while listening to the voice most similar to their own. Our results suggest that the superior temporal gyrus is involved in neural sharpening for the own-voice. The lesser degree of activations observed by the voices that were similar to the own-voice indicates that these areas not only respond to the differences between self and others, but also respond to the finer details of own-voices.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document