Abstract
A major cue to infer sound direction is the difference in arrival time of the sound at the left and right ears, called interaural time difference (ITD). The neural coding of ITD and its similarity across species have been strongly debated. In the barn owl, an auditory specialist relying on sound localization to capture prey, ITDs within the physiological range determined by the head width are topographically represented at each frequency. The topographic representation suggests that sound direction may be inferred from the location of maximal neural activity within the map. Such topographical representation of ITD, however, is not evident in mammals. Instead, the preferred ITD of neurons in the mammalian brainstem often lies outside the physiological range and depends on the neuron's best frequency. Because of these disparities, it has been assumed that how spatial hearing is achieved in birds and mammals is fundamentally different. However, recent studies reveal ITD responses in the owl's forebrain and midbrain premotor area that are consistent with coding schemes proposed in mammals. Particularly, sound location in owls could be decoded from the relative firing rates of two broadly and inversely ITD-tuned channels. This evidence suggests that, at downstream stages, the code for ITD may not be qualitatively different across species. Thus, while experimental evidence continues to support the notion of differences in ITD representation across species and brain regions, the latest results indicate notable commonalities, suggesting that codes driving orienting behavior in mammals and birds may be comparable.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 9053-9061 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue number | 46 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 13 2019 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neuroscience(all)
Cite this
Synthesis of Hemispheric ITD Tuning from the Readout of a Neural Map : Commonalities of Proposed Coding Schemes in Birds and Mammals. / Peña, Jose L.; Cazettes, Fanny; Beckert, Michael V.; Fischer, Brian J.
In: The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, Vol. 39, No. 46, 13.11.2019, p. 9053-9061.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Synthesis of Hemispheric ITD Tuning from the Readout of a Neural Map
T2 - Commonalities of Proposed Coding Schemes in Birds and Mammals
AU - Peña, Jose L.
AU - Cazettes, Fanny
AU - Beckert, Michael V.
AU - Fischer, Brian J.
PY - 2019/11/13
Y1 - 2019/11/13
N2 - A major cue to infer sound direction is the difference in arrival time of the sound at the left and right ears, called interaural time difference (ITD). The neural coding of ITD and its similarity across species have been strongly debated. In the barn owl, an auditory specialist relying on sound localization to capture prey, ITDs within the physiological range determined by the head width are topographically represented at each frequency. The topographic representation suggests that sound direction may be inferred from the location of maximal neural activity within the map. Such topographical representation of ITD, however, is not evident in mammals. Instead, the preferred ITD of neurons in the mammalian brainstem often lies outside the physiological range and depends on the neuron's best frequency. Because of these disparities, it has been assumed that how spatial hearing is achieved in birds and mammals is fundamentally different. However, recent studies reveal ITD responses in the owl's forebrain and midbrain premotor area that are consistent with coding schemes proposed in mammals. Particularly, sound location in owls could be decoded from the relative firing rates of two broadly and inversely ITD-tuned channels. This evidence suggests that, at downstream stages, the code for ITD may not be qualitatively different across species. Thus, while experimental evidence continues to support the notion of differences in ITD representation across species and brain regions, the latest results indicate notable commonalities, suggesting that codes driving orienting behavior in mammals and birds may be comparable.
AB - A major cue to infer sound direction is the difference in arrival time of the sound at the left and right ears, called interaural time difference (ITD). The neural coding of ITD and its similarity across species have been strongly debated. In the barn owl, an auditory specialist relying on sound localization to capture prey, ITDs within the physiological range determined by the head width are topographically represented at each frequency. The topographic representation suggests that sound direction may be inferred from the location of maximal neural activity within the map. Such topographical representation of ITD, however, is not evident in mammals. Instead, the preferred ITD of neurons in the mammalian brainstem often lies outside the physiological range and depends on the neuron's best frequency. Because of these disparities, it has been assumed that how spatial hearing is achieved in birds and mammals is fundamentally different. However, recent studies reveal ITD responses in the owl's forebrain and midbrain premotor area that are consistent with coding schemes proposed in mammals. Particularly, sound location in owls could be decoded from the relative firing rates of two broadly and inversely ITD-tuned channels. This evidence suggests that, at downstream stages, the code for ITD may not be qualitatively different across species. Thus, while experimental evidence continues to support the notion of differences in ITD representation across species and brain regions, the latest results indicate notable commonalities, suggesting that codes driving orienting behavior in mammals and birds may be comparable.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85074962697&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0873-19.2019
DO - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0873-19.2019
M3 - Article
C2 - 31570537
AN - SCOPUS:85074962697
VL - 39
SP - 9053
EP - 9061
JO - Journal of Neuroscience
JF - Journal of Neuroscience
SN - 0270-6474
IS - 46
ER -