Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-25-2017

Published In

Journal Of Neuroscience

Abstract

Extracellular voltage recordings (Vₑ; field potentials) provide an accessible view of in vivo neural activity, but proper interpretation of field potentials is a long-standing challenge. Computational modeling can aid in identifying neural generators of field potentials. In the auditory brainstem of cats, spatial patterns of sound-evoked Vₑ can resemble, strikingly, Vₑ generated by current dipoles. Previously, we developed a biophysically-based model of a binaural brainstem nucleus, the medial superior olive (MSO), that accounts qualitatively for observed dipole-like Vₑ patterns in sustained responses to monaural tones with frequencies >~1000 Hz (Goldwyn et al., 2014). We have observed, however, that Vₑ patterns in cats of both sexes appear more monopole-like for lower-frequency tones. Here, we enhance our theory to accurately reproduce dipole and non-dipole features of Vₑ responses to monaural tones with frequencies ranging from 600 to 1800 Hz. By applying our model to data, we estimate time courses of paired input currents to MSO neurons. We interpret these inputs as dendrite-targeting excitation and soma-targeting inhibition (the latter contributes non-dipole-like features to Vₑ responses). Aspects of inferred inputs are consistent with synaptic inputs to MSO neurons including the tendencies of inhibitory inputs to attenuate in response to high-frequency tones and to precede excitatory inputs. Importantly, our updated theory can be tested experimentally by blocking synaptic inputs. MSO neurons perform a critical role in sound localization and binaural hearing. By solving an inverse problem to uncover synaptic inputs from Vₑ patterns we provide a new perspective on MSO physiology.

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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This work is freely available under a Creative Commons license.

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