IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v417y2002i6888d10.1038_417543a.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Precise inhibition is essential for microsecond interaural time difference coding

Author

Listed:
  • Antje Brand

    (Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology)

  • Oliver Behrend

    (Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology)

  • Torsten Marquardt

    (University College London)

  • David McAlpine

    (University College London)

  • Benedikt Grothe

    (Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology)

Abstract

Microsecond differences in the arrival time of a sound at the two ears (interaural time differences, ITDs) are the main cue for localizing low-frequency sounds in space. Traditionally, ITDs are thought to be encoded by an array of coincidence-detector neurons, receiving excitatory inputs from the two ears via axons of variable length (‘delay lines’), to create a topographic map of azimuthal auditory space1,2. Compelling evidence for the existence of such a map in the mammalian lTD detector, the medial superior olive (MSO), however, is lacking. Equally puzzling is the role of a—temporally very precise3—glycine-mediated inhibitory input to MSO neurons. Using in vivo recordings from the MSO of the Mongolian gerbil, we found the responses of ITD-sensitive neurons to be inconsistent with the idea of a topographic map of auditory space. Moreover, local application of glycine and its antagonist strychnine by iontophoresis (through glass pipette electrodes, by means of an electric current) revealed that precisely timed glycine-controlled inhibition is a critical part of the mechanism by which the physiologically relevant range of ITDs is encoded in the MSO. A computer model, simulating the response of a coincidence-detector neuron with bilateral excitatory inputs and a temporally precise contralateral inhibitory input, supports this conclusion.

Suggested Citation

  • Antje Brand & Oliver Behrend & Torsten Marquardt & David McAlpine & Benedikt Grothe, 2002. "Precise inhibition is essential for microsecond interaural time difference coding," Nature, Nature, vol. 417(6888), pages 543-547, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:417:y:2002:i:6888:d:10.1038_417543a
    DOI: 10.1038/417543a
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/417543a
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/417543a?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Go Ashida & Kazuo Funabiki & Jutta Kretzberg, 2015. "Minimal Conductance-Based Model of Auditory Coincidence Detector Neurons," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(4), pages 1-16, April.
    2. Jungah Lee & Jennifer M Groh, 2014. "Different Stimuli, Different Spatial Codes: A Visual Map and an Auditory Rate Code for Oculomotor Space in the Primate Superior Colliculus," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(1), pages 1-14, January.
    3. Barbara Trattner & Céline Marie Gravot & Benedikt Grothe & Lars Kunz, 2013. "Metabolic Maturation of Auditory Neurones in the Superior Olivary Complex," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(6), pages 1-14, June.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:417:y:2002:i:6888:d:10.1038_417543a. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.