Fronto-temporal coupling dynamics during spontaneous activity and auditory processing in the bat carollia perspicillata

  • Most mammals rely on the extraction of acoustic information from the environment in order to survive. However, the mechanisms that support sound representation in auditory neural networks involving sensory and association brain areas remain underexplored. In this study, we address the functional connectivity between an auditory region in frontal cortex (the frontal auditory field, FAF) and the auditory cortex (AC) in the bat Carollia perspicillata. The AC is a classic sensory area central for the processing of acoustic information. On the other hand, the FAF belongs to the frontal lobe, a brain region involved in the integration of sensory inputs, modulation of cognitive states, and in the coordination of behavioral outputs. The FAF-AC network was examined in terms of oscillatory coherence (local-field potentials, LFPs), and within an information theoretical framework linking FAF and AC spiking activity. We show that in the absence of acoustic stimulation, simultaneously recorded LFPs from FAF and AC are coherent in low frequencies (1–12 Hz). This “default” coupling was strongest in deep AC layers and was unaltered by acoustic stimulation. However, presenting auditory stimuli did trigger the emergence of coherent auditory-evoked gamma-band activity (>25 Hz) between the FAF and AC. In terms of spiking, our results suggest that FAF and AC engage in distinct coding strategies for representing artificial and natural sounds. Taken together, our findings shed light onto the neuronal coding strategies and functional coupling mechanisms that enable sound representation at the network level in the mammalian brain.

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Metadaten
Author:Francisco García RosalesORCiDGND, Luciana López JuryORCiDGND, Eugenia González PalomaresORCiD, Yuranny Cabral-Calderı́nORCiD, Julio C. Hechavarria-CueriaORCiDGND
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-533382
DOI:https://doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2020.00014
Parent Title (English):Frontiers in systems neuroscience
Publisher:Frontiers Research Foundation
Place of publication:Lausanne
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Date of Publication (online):2020/03/20
Date of first Publication:2020/03/20
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2020/04/02
Tag:auditory cortex; auditory processing; coherence; frontal cortex; functional coupling; local-field potentials; oscillations; sensory coding
Volume:14
Issue:article 14
Page Number:23
HeBIS-PPN:464704375
Institutes:Biowissenschaften / Biowissenschaften
Dewey Decimal Classification:5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 59 Tiere (Zoologie) / 590 Tiere (Zoologie)
6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Open-Access-Publikationsfonds:Biowissenschaften
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - Namensnennung 4.0