27 research outputs found
Combination sensitivity and processing of communication calls in the inferior colliculus of the Moustached Bat Pteronotus parnellii
Requirement of nerve growth factor for development of substance P-containing sensory neurones
Age-Related Decreases in Growth Hormone and Insulin-Like Growth Factor (IGF)–1: Implications for Brain Aging
The Monaural Nuclei of the Lateral Lemniscus: Parallel Pathways from Cochlear Nucleus to Midbrain
Critical Developmental Phases in the Ontogeny of Human Lateral Geniculate Nucleus During Prenatal Life
Projections of Cochlear Nucleus to Superior Olivary Complex in an Echolocating Bat: Relation to Function
Cell Birth, Formation of Efferent Connections, and Establishment of Tonotopic Order in the Rat Cochlear Nucleus
Hearing the light: neural and perceptual encoding of optogenetic stimulation in the central auditory pathway
Dopamine Modulates Auditory Responses in the Inferior Colliculus in a Heterogeneous Manner
Perception of complex sounds such as speech is affected by a variety of factors, including attention, expectation of reward, physiological state, and/or disorders, yet the mechanisms underlying this modulation are not well understood. Although dopamine is commonly studied for its role in reward-based learning and in disorders, multiple lines of evidence suggest that dopamine is also involved in modulating auditory processing. In this study, we examined the effects of dopamine application on neuronal response properties in the inferior colliculus (IC) of awake mice. Because the IC contains dopamine receptors and nerve terminals immunoreactive for tyrosine hydroxylase, we predicted that dopamine would modulate auditory responses in the IC. We recorded single-unit responses before, during, and after the iontophoretic application of dopamine using piggyback electrodes. We examined the effects of dopamine on firing rate, timing, and probability of bursting. We found that application of dopamine affected neural responses in a heterogeneous manner. In more than 80 % of the neurons, dopamine either increased (32 %) or decreased (50 %) firing rate, and the effects were similar on spontaneous and sound-evoked activity. Dopamine also either increased or decreased first spike latency and jitter in almost half of the neurons. In 3/28 neurons (11 %), dopamine significantly altered the probability of bursting. The heterogeneous effects of dopamine observed in the IC of awake mice were similar to effects observed in other brain areas. Our findings indicate that dopamine differentially modulates neural activity in the IC and thus may play an important role in auditory processing