Sound sensitivity of neurons in rat hippocampus during performance of a sound-guided task.

ABSTRACT: To investigate how hippocampal neurons encode sound stimuli, and the conjunction of sound stimuli with the animal's position in space, we recorded from neurons in the CA1 region of hippocampus in rats while they performed a sound discrimination task. Four different sounds were used, two associated with water reward on the right side of the animal and the other two with water reward on the left side. This allowed us to separate neuronal activity related to sound identity from activity related to response direction. To test the effect of spatial context on sound coding, we trained rats to carry out the task on two identical testing platforms at different locations in the same room. Twenty-one percent of the recorded neurons exhibited sensitivity to sound identity, as quantified by the differ

SUBMITTER: Itskov PM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3331670 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature