scholarly journals Neurometric correlates to sensitive high-frequency sound amplitude modulation detection by mice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurits M. van den Berg ◽  
Esmée Busscher ◽  
J. Gerard G. Borst ◽  
Aaron Benson Wong
Keyword(s):  
Amplitude Modulation ◽  
Phase Locking ◽  
Detection Threshold ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Threshold Detection ◽  
High Modulation ◽  
Animal Vocalizations ◽  
High Pass

Amplitude modulation (AM) is a common feature of natural sounds, including speech and animal vocalizations. Here, we used operant conditioning and in vivo electrophysiology to determine the AM detection threshold of mice as well as its underlying neuronal encoding. Mice were trained in a Go-NoGo task to detect the transition to AM within a noise stimulus designed to prevent the use of spectral side-bands or a change in intensity as alternative cues. Our results indicate that mice, in comparison with other species, detect high modulation frequencies up to 512 Hz exceptionally well, but show poor performance at low frequencies. Our in vivo multielectrode recordings in the inferior colliculus (IC) of both anesthetized and awake mice revealed a few single units with remarkable phase-locking ability to 512 Hz modulation, but not sufficient to explain the good behavioral detection. Using a model of the population response that combined dimensionality reduction with threshold detection, we reproduced the general high-pass characteristics of behavioral detection based on a subset of neurons showing the largest firing rate change (both increase and decrease) in response to AM. Our data thus identify candidate neurons in the IC to explain the high-pass transfer function for AM detection in the mouse.

scholarly journals GABAergic and glycinergic inhibition modulate monaural auditory response properties in the avian superior olivary nucleus

2011 ◽  
Vol 105 (5) ◽  
pp. 2405-2420 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. L. Coleman ◽  
M. J. Fischl ◽  
S. R. Weimann ◽  
R. M. Burger
Keyword(s):  
Phase Locking ◽  
Auditory Brainstem ◽  
Inhibitory Input ◽  
Auditory Information ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Response Properties ◽  
Glycinergic Inhibition ◽  
Olivary Nucleus

The superior olivary nucleus (SON) is the primary source of inhibition in the avian auditory brainstem. While much is known about the role of inhibition at the SON's target nuclei, little is known about how the SON itself processes auditory information or how inhibition modulates these properties. Additionally, the synaptic physiology of inhibitory inputs within the SON has not been described. We investigated these questions using in vivo and in vitro electrophysiological techniques in combination with immunohistochemistry in the chicken, an organism for which the auditory brainstem has otherwise been well characterized. We provide a thorough characterization of monaural response properties in the SON and the influence of inhibitory input in shaping these features. We found that the SON contains a heterogeneous mixture of response patterns to acoustic stimulation and that in most neurons these responses are modulated by both GABAergic and glycinergic inhibitory inputs. Interestingly, many SON neurons tuned to low frequencies have robust phase-locking capability and the precision of this phase locking is enhanced by inhibitory inputs. On the synaptic level, we found that evoked and spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) within the SON are also mediated by both GABAergic and glycinergic inhibition in all neurons tested. Analysis of spontaneous IPSCs suggests that most SON cells receive a mixture of both purely GABAergic terminals, as well as terminals from which GABA and glycine are coreleased. Evidence for glycinergic signaling within the SON is a novel result that has important implications for understanding inhibitory function in the auditory brainstem.

Sources of the Scalp-Recorded Amplitude-Modulation Following Response

2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (04) ◽  
pp. 188-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shigeyuki Kuwada ◽  
Julia S. Anderson ◽  
Ranjan Batra ◽  
Douglas C. Fitzpatrick ◽  
Natacha Teissier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Animal Model ◽  
Amplitude Modulation ◽  
Single Unit ◽  
Modulation Frequency ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
High Modulation ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Single Unit Recordings ◽  
Composite Response ◽  
The Brain

The scalp-recorded amplitude-modulation following response (AMFR)” is gaining recognition as an objective audiometric tool, but little is known about the neural sources that underlie this potential. We hypothesized, based on our human studies and single-unit recordings in animals, that the scalp-recorded AMFR reflects the interaction of multiple sources. We tested this hypothesis using an animal model, the unanesthetized rabbit. We compared AMFRs recorded from the surface of the brain at different locations and before and after the administration of agents likely to enhance or suppress neural generators. We also recorded AMFRs locally at several stations along the auditory neuraxis. We conclude that the surface-recorded AMFR is indeed a composite response from multiple brain generators. Although the response at any modulation frequency can reflect the activity of more than one generator, the AMFRs to low and high modulation frequencies appear to reflect a strong contribution from cortical and subcortical sources, respectively.

scholarly journals Reaction of erythrocyte membranes of animals on direct effects of infrasound

2020 ◽  
Vol 159 ◽  
pp. 08001
Author(s):  
Sultan Tuleukhanov ◽  
Zhanna Abdrassulova ◽  
Yerubay Baibekov ◽  
Bayan Toyzhigitova ◽  
Rabiga Kaliyekper
Keyword(s):  
Surface Charge Density ◽  
Biological Effects ◽  
Erythrocyte Membranes ◽  
Differential Count ◽  
Combined Effects ◽  
Direct Effects ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Biological Features ◽  
Total Differential

This study focuses on the reaction of the membranes of erythrocytes based on the principles that use direct effects of infrasound. The effect on biological features was investigated through the experiments on the rats. The work determined the level of electrical conductivity of blood in rats during direct, indirect and combined effects of infrasound in vivo. There was found that infrasound stimulate the immune system and therefore the results recommend that caution is take place for people who are dealing with these low frequencies. There was used many different technologies and methods, including total differential count in order to consider all of the nuances of the observed object and the main goal. The exposure to infrasound caused increase in the electric conductivity of whole blood than the control in both types of exposure which indicates a large increase of the surface charge density of erythrocyte resulted from the formation of highly reactive species such as superoxide radicals. There were found some undesired biological effects, however further work could have decreased them to a lesser extent.

scholarly journals Neural Rate and Timing Cues for Detection and Discrimination of Amplitude-Modulated Tones in the Awake Rabbit Inferior Colliculus

2007 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 522-539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul C. Nelson ◽  
Laurel H. Carney
Keyword(s):  
Inferior Colliculus ◽  
Dynamic Range ◽  
Modulation Depth ◽  
Average Rate ◽  
Modulation Frequency ◽  
Detection Threshold ◽  
Depth Functions ◽  
Depth Discrimination ◽  
High Modulation ◽  
Envelope Processing

Neural responses to amplitude-modulated (AM) tones in the unanesthetized rabbit inferior colliculus (IC) were studied in an effort to establish explicit relationships between physiological and psychophysical measures of temporal envelope processing. Specifically, responses to variations in modulation depth ( m) at the cell’s best modulation frequency, with and without modulation maskers, were quantified in terms of average rate and synchronization to the envelope over the entire perceptual dynamic range of depths. Statistically significant variations in the metrics were used to define neural AM detection and discrimination thresholds. Synchrony emerged at modulation depths comparable with psychophysical AM detection sensitivities in some neurons, whereas the lowest rate-based neural thresholds could not account for psychoacoustical thresholds. The majority of rate thresholds (85%) were −10 dB or higher (in 20 log m), and 16% of the population exhibited no systematic dependence of average rate on m. Neural thresholds for AM detection did not decrease systematically at higher SPLs (as observed psychophysically): thresholds remained constant or increased with level for most cells tested at multiple sound-pressure levels (SPLs). At depths higher than the rate-based detection threshold, some rate modulation-depth functions were sufficiently steep with respect to the across-trial variability of the rate to predict depth discrimination thresholds as low as 1 dB (comparable with the psychophysics). Synchrony, on the other hand, did not vary systematically with m in many cells at high modulation depths. A simple computational model was extended to reproduce several features of the modulation frequency and depth dependence of both transient and sustained pure-tone responders.

scholarly journals Signal-to-noise ratio in the membrane potential of the owl's auditory coincidence detectors

2012 ◽  
Vol 108 (10) ◽  
pp. 2837-2845 ◽  
Author(s):  
Go Ashida ◽  
Kazuo Funabiki ◽  
Paula T. Kuokkanen ◽  
Richard Kempter ◽  
Catherine E. Carr
Keyword(s):  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Phase Locking ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Membrane Potentials ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Theoretical Predictions ◽  
Noise Ratio ◽  
Band Limited

Owls use interaural time differences (ITDs) to locate a sound source. They compute ITD in a specialized neural circuit that consists of axonal delay lines from the cochlear nucleus magnocellularis (NM) and coincidence detectors in the nucleus laminaris (NL). Recent physiological recordings have shown that tonal stimuli induce oscillatory membrane potentials in NL neurons (Funabiki K, Ashida G, Konishi M. J Neurosci 31: 15245–15256, 2011). The amplitude of these oscillations varies with ITD and is strongly correlated to the firing rate. The oscillation, termed the sound analog potential, has the same frequency as the stimulus tone and is presumed to originate from phase-locked synaptic inputs from NM fibers. To investigate how these oscillatory membrane potentials are generated, we applied recently developed signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) analysis techniques (Kuokkanen PT, Wagner H, Ashida G, Carr CE, Kempter R. J Neurophysiol 104: 2274–2290, 2010) to the intracellular waveforms obtained in vivo. Our theoretical prediction of the band-limited SNRs agreed with experimental data for mid- to high-frequency (>2 kHz) NL neurons. For low-frequency (≤2 kHz) NL neurons, however, measured SNRs were lower than theoretical predictions. These results suggest that the number of independent NM fibers converging onto each NL neuron and/or the population-averaged degree of phase-locking of the NM fibers could be significantly smaller in the low-frequency NL region than estimated for higher best-frequency NL.

scholarly journals Application of CRISPR/Cas9 Tools for Genome Editing in the White-Rot Fungus Dichomitus squalens

Biomolecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1526
Author(s):  
Joanna E. Kowalczyk ◽  
Shreya Saha ◽  
Miia R. Mäkelä
Keyword(s):  
Genome Editing ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Genetic Manipulation ◽  
White Rot ◽  
White Rot Fungus ◽  
Detailed Knowledge ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Dichomitus Squalens

Dichomitus squalens is an emerging reference species that can be used to investigate white-rot fungal plant biomass degradation, as it has flexible physiology to utilize different types of biomass as sources of carbon and energy. Recent comparative (post-) genomic studies on D. squalens resulted in an increasingly detailed knowledge of the genes and enzymes involved in the lignocellulose breakdown in this fungus and showed a complex transcriptional response in the presence of lignocellulose-derived compounds. To fully utilize this increasing amount of data, efficient and reliable genetic manipulation tools are needed, e.g., to characterize the function of certain proteins in vivo and facilitate the construction of strains with enhanced lignocellulolytic capabilities. However, precise genome alterations are often very difficult in wild-type basidiomycetes partially due to extremely low frequencies of homology directed recombination (HDR) and limited availability of selectable markers. To overcome these obstacles, we assessed various Cas9-single guide RNA (sgRNA) ribonucleoprotein (RNP) -based strategies for selectable homology and non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) -based gene editing in D. squalens. We also showed an induction of HDR-based genetic modifications by using single-stranded oligodeoxynucleotides (ssODNs) in a basidiomycete fungus for the first time. This paper provides directions for the application of targeted CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing in D. squalens and other wild-type (basidiomycete) fungi.

scholarly journals Novel Organization of Genes Involved in Prophage Excision Identified in the Temperate Lactococcal Bacteriophage TP901-1

1999 ◽  
Vol 181 (23) ◽  
pp. 7291-7297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Breüner ◽  
Lone Brøndsted ◽  
Karin Hammer
Keyword(s):  
Basic Protein ◽  
Genetic Material ◽  
Gene Encoding ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Uracil Phosphoribosyltransferase ◽  
Phage Integrase ◽  
The Family ◽  
Phage Protein ◽  
Selection Of

ABSTRACT In this work, the phage-encoded proteins involved in site-specific excision of the prophage genome of the temperate lactococcal bacteriophage TP901-1 were identified. The phage integrase is required for the process, and a low but significant frequency of excision is observed when the integrase is the only phage protein present. However, 100% excision is observed when the phage protein Orf7 is provided as well as the integrase. Thus, Orf7 is the TP901-1 excisionase, and it is the first excisionase identified that is used during excisive recombination catalyzed by an integrase belonging to the family of extended resolvases. Orf7 is a basic protein of 64 amino acids, and the corresponding gene (orf7) is the third gene in the early lytic operon. This location of an excisionase gene of a temperate bacteriophage has never been described before. The experiments are based on in vivo excision of specifically designed excision vectors carrying the TP901-1 attP site which are integrated intoattB on the chromosome of Lactococcus lactis. Excision of the vectors was investigated in the presence of different TP901-1 genes. In order to detect very low frequencies of excision, a method for positive selection of loss of genetic material based upon the upp gene (encoding uracil phosphoribosyltransferase) was designed, since upp mutants are resistant to fluorouracil. By using this system, frequencies of excision on the order of 10−5 per cell could easily be measured. The described selection principle may be of general use for many organisms and also for types of deletion events other than excision.

scholarly journals Perceptual Weighting of Binaural Lateralization Cues across Frequency Bands

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 485-496
Author(s):  
Axel Ahrens ◽  
Suyash Narendra Joshi ◽  
Bastian Epp
Keyword(s):  
Auditory System ◽  
Phase Locking ◽  
Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Multiple Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Frequency Bands ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Highest Weight ◽  
Auditory Enhancement ◽  
Spectral Weighting

Abstract The auditory system uses interaural time and level differences (ITD and ILD) as cues to localize and lateralize sounds. The availability of ITDs and ILDs in the auditory system is limited by neural phase-locking and by the head size, respectively. Although the frequency-specific limitations are well known, the relative contribution of ITDs and ILDs in individual frequency bands in broadband stimuli is unknown. To determine these relative contributions, or spectral weights, listeners were asked to lateralize stimuli consisting of eleven simultaneously presented 1-ERB-wide noise bands centered between 442 and 5544 Hz and separated by 1-ERB-wide gaps. Either ITDs or ILDs were varied independently across each noise band, while fixing the other interaural disparity to either 0 dB or 0 μs. The weights were obtained using a multiple linear regression analysis. In a second experiment, the effect of auditory enhancement on the spectral weights was investigated. The enhancement of single noise bands was realized by presenting ten of the noise bands as preceding and following sounds (pre- and post-cursors, respectively). Listeners were asked to lateralize the stimuli as in the first experiment. Results show that in the absence of pre- and post-cursors, only the lowest or highest frequency band received highest weight for ITD and ILD, respectively. Auditory enhancement led to significantly enhanced weights given to the band without the pre- and post-cursor. The weight enhancement could only be observed at low frequencies, when determined with ITD cues and for low and high frequencies for ILDs. Hence, the auditory system seems to be able to change the spectral weighting of binaural information depending on the information content.

scholarly journals A sciaenid swim bladder with long skinny fingers produces sound with an unusual frequency spectrum

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hin-Kiu Mok ◽  
Shih-Chia Wu ◽  
Soranuth Sirisuary ◽  
Michael L. Fine
Keyword(s):  
Frequency Spectrum ◽  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Pulse Repetition Rate ◽  
Sound Production ◽  
Swim Bladder ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Pass Filter ◽  
Number Of Cycles ◽  
Almost All ◽  
High Pass

Abstract Swim bladders in sciaenid fishes function in hearing in some and sound production in almost all species. Sciaenid swim bladders vary from simple carrot-shaped to two-chambered to possessing various diverticula. Diverticula that terminate close to the ears improve hearing. Other unusual diverticula heading in a caudal direction have not been studied. The fresh-water Asian species Boesemania microlepis has an unusual swim bladder with a slightly restricted anterior region and 6 long-slender caudally-directed diverticula bilaterally. We hypothesized that these diverticula modify sound spectra. Evening advertisement calls consist of a series of multicycle tonal pulses, but the fundamental frequency and first several harmonics are missing or attenuated, and peak frequencies are high, varying between < 1–2 kHz. The fundamental frequency is reflected in the pulse repetition rate and in ripples on the frequency spectrum but not in the number of cycles within a pulse. We suggest that diverticula function as Helmholz absorbers turning the swim bladder into a high-pass filter responsible for the absence of low frequencies typically present in sciaenid calls. Further, we hypothesize that the multicycle pulses are driven by the stretched aponeuroses (flat tendons that connect the sonic muscles to the swim bladder) in this and other sciaenids.

Properties of Short-Term Synaptic Depression at Larval Neuromuscular Synapses in Wild-Type and Temperature-Sensitive Paralytic Mutants of Drosophila

2005 ◽  
Vol 93 (5) ◽  
pp. 2396-2405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Wu ◽  
Fumiko Kawasaki ◽  
Richard W. Ordway
Keyword(s):  
Neurotransmitter Release ◽  
Functional Characterization ◽  
Neuromuscular Synapse ◽  
Synaptic Depression ◽  
Temperature Sensitive ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Neuromuscular Synapses ◽  
The Impact

The larval neuromuscular synapse of Drosophila serves as an important model for genetic and molecular analysis of synaptic development and function. Further functional characterization of this synapse, as well as adult neuromuscular synapses, will greatly enhance the impact of this model system on our understanding of synaptic transmission. Here we describe a form of short-term synaptic depression observed at larval, but not adult, neuromuscular synapses and explore the underlying mechanisms. Larval neuromuscular synapses exhibited a form of short-term depression that was strongly dependent on stimulation frequency over a narrow range of low frequencies (0.1–1 Hz). This form of synaptic depression, referred to here as low-frequency short-term depression (LF-STD), results from an activity-dependent reduction in neurotransmitter release. However, in contrast to the predictions of depletion models, the degree of depression was independent of the initial level of neurotransmitter release over a range of extracellular calcium concentrations. This conclusion was confirmed in two temperature-sensitive (TS) paralytic mutants, cacophony and shibire, which exhibit reduced neurotransmitter release resulting from conditional disruption of presynaptic calcium channels and dynamin, respectively. Higher stimulation frequencies (40 or 60 Hz) produced two components of depression that appeared to include LF-STD as well as a more conventional component of short-term depression. These findings reveal novel properties of short-term synaptic depression and suggest that complementary genetic analysis of larval and adult neuromuscular synapses will further define the in vivo mechanisms of neurotransmitter release and short-term synaptic plasticity.

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