Diverse processing underlying frequency integration in midbrain neurons of barn owls.

ABSTRACT: Emergent response properties of sensory neurons depend on circuit connectivity and somatodendritic processing. Neurons of the barn owl's external nucleus of the inferior colliculus (ICx) display emergence of spatial selectivity. These neurons use interaural time difference (ITD) as a cue for the horizontal direction of sound sources. ITD is detected by upstream brainstem neurons with narrow frequency tuning, resulting in spatially ambiguous responses. This spatial ambiguity is resolved by ICx neurons integrating inputs over frequency, a relevant processing in sound localization across species. Previous models have predicted that ICx neurons function as point neurons that linearly integrate inputs across frequency. However, the complex dendritic trees and spines of ICx neurons raises the qu

SUBMITTER: Gorman JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8610287 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature