Life Sciences Commons^™

Mapping Auditory And Vestibular Response Neurons In The Optic Tectum Of Larval Zebrafish, Erika Marks, Arminda Suli

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Cellular mapping of the sensory receptive fields of brain structures is a critical step in understanding function and dysfunction in development. Deficits in the ability to receive, process and integrate the senses leads to difficulties recognizing and responding appropriately to stimuli. To understand how the senses are integrated, it is first necessary to map the neurons receptive to inputs from individual senses. The optic tectum of zebrafish is a structure known for its homology to the superior colliculus of mammals and is a center of multisensory integration – including visual, auditory, and somatosensory stimuli. However, the microcircuitry of this important …

Structure And Function Of Dopamine In The Inner Ear And Auditory Efferent System Of A Vocal Fish, Jonathan T. Perelmuter

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The neuromodulator dopamine is considered essential for coordinating the internal motivational state of an organism with appropriate behavioral responses to stimuli in the external environment. This could be accomplished by modifying the function of neural circuits involved in sensory processing such that they are “tuned in” and optimally sensitive to important stimuli during critical time windows. While dopamine modulation of auditory processing has been studied in the central nervous system, neuromodulation can also occur outside the brain, in the inner ear. The majority of investigations of dopamine in the ear are conducted using rodents and focus on its role in …

Dynamic Effects Of Habituation And Novelty Detection On Newborn Event Related Potentials, Cathryn S. Cortesa, Caitlin M Hudac, Dennis Molfese

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty and Staff Publications

Newborns habituate to repeated auditory stimuli, and discriminate syllables, generating opportunities for early language learning. This study investigated trial-by-trial changes in newborn electrophysiological responses to auditory speech syllables as an index of habituation and novelty detection. Auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 16 term newborn infants, aged 1–3 days, in response to monosyllabic speech syllables presented during habituation and novelty detection tasks. Multilevel models demonstrated that newborns habituated to repeated auditory syllables, as ERP amplitude attenuated for a late-latency component over successive trials. Subsequently, during the novelty detection task, earlyand late-latency component amplitudes decreased over successive trials for novel …

Common Parietal Activation In Musical Mental Transformations Across Pitch And Time, Nicholas E.V. Foster, Andrea Halpern, Robert J. Zatorre

Andrea Halpern

We previously observed that mental manipulation of the pitch level or temporal organization of melodies results in functional activation in the human intraparietal sulcus (IPS), a region also associated with visuospatial transformation and numerical calculation. Two outstanding questions about these musical transformations are whether pitch and time depend on separate or common processing in IPS, and whether IPS recruitment in melodic tasks varies depending upon the degree of transformation required (as it does in mental rotation). In the present study we sought to answer these questions by applying functional magnetic resonance imaging while musicians performed closely matched mental transposition (pitch …

Targeting Of Central Nucleus Projections To Extramodular Zones Of The Lateral Cortex Of The Inferior Colliculus In Developing Mouse, Isabel D. Lamb-Echegaray

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The multimodal lateral cortex of the inferior colliculus (LCIC) exhibits a modular-extramodular micro-organization that is evident early in development. In addition to a set of neurochemical markers that reliably highlight its modular-extramodular organization, mature projection patterns in a variety of adult species suggest that major LCIC afferents also recognize and adhere to such a framework. This patch-matrix-like arrangement appears to segregate into distinct afferent streams, with somatosensory inputs targeting LCIC modules and auditory inputs targeting surrounding extramodular zones. Currently lacking is a detailed understanding of the development and shaping of multimodal LCIC afferents with respect to its modular-extramodular framework. The …

Review: Do The Different Sensory Areas Within The Cat Anterior Ectosylvian Sulcal Cortex Collectively Represent A Network Multisensory Hub?, M. Alex Meredith, Mark T. Wallace, H. Ruth Clemo

Anatomy and Neurobiology Publications

Current theory supports that the numerous functional areas of the cerebral cortex are organized and function as a network. Using connectional databases and computational approaches, the cerebral network has been demonstrated to exhibit a hierarchical structure composed of areas, clusters and, ultimately, hubs. Hubs are highly connected, higher-order regions that also facilitate communication between different sensory modalities. One region computationally identified network hub is the visual area of the Anterior Ectosylvian Sulcal cortex (AESc) of the cat. The Anterior Ectosylvian Visual area (AEV) is but one component of the AESc that also includes the auditory (Field of the Anterior Ectosylvian …

Dynamics Of Motor System Excitability During Auditory Anticipation, Justine Czajka

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The ability to anticipate complex sounds, like words in speech or the beat in music, is an important aspect of human perception. However, the changes of excitability in the motor system during auditory anticipation have not been characterized. Here, we applied single-pulse Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to the primary motor cortex to elicit motor evoked potentials (MEPs) from the first dorsal interosseous muscle, the amplitude of which indexes motor system excitability. Healthy right-handed participants (N = 20) underwent TMS stimulation during listening to regular (periodic) tone sequences at three rates (200ms, 550ms, and 900ms) and irregular tone sequences. We assessed …

Dynamics Of Motor System Excitability During Auditory Anticipation, Justine Czajka

Undergraduate Honors Posters

The ability to anticipate complex sounds, like words in speech or the beat in music, is an important aspect of human perception. However, the changes of excitability in the motor system during auditory anticipation have not been characterized. Here, we applied single-pulse Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to the primary motor cortex to elicit motor evoked potentials (MEPs) from the first dorsal interosseous muscle, the amplitude of which indexes motor system excitability. Healthy right-handed participants (N = 20) underwent TMS stimulation during listening to regular (periodic) tone sequences at three rates (200ms, 550ms, and 900ms) and irregular tone sequences. We assessed …

Multimodal Inputs And Modularity Of The Inferior Colliculus Prior To Audition., Joseph A. Balsamo

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

A fully functional nervous system requires assimilation of sensory modalities to adequately interpret stimuli and determine appropriate motor responses. Two such regions responsible for multimodal integration are found in the auditory system, the cochlear nucleus (CN) and the inferior colliculus (IC). The lateral cortex of the IC (LCIC) in particular receives a diverse multimodal input array to discrete modular/extramodular zones. Staining for certain neurochemicals, including GAD, a marker for GABAergic neurons, reveal this compartmentalized LCIC organization. The present study utilizes fluorescent anterograde tracttracing techniques to determine the development of a somatosensory brainstem projection from the spinal trigeminal nucleus (Sp5), to …

The Neurodevelopment Of Basic Sensory Processing And Integration In Autism Spectrum Disorder, Alice Brown Brandwein

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis presents three studies that together explore the neurophysiological basis for the sensory processing and integration abnormalities that have been observed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) since the disorder was first described over half a century ago. In designing these studies we seek to fill a hole that currently exists in the research community‟s knowledge of the neurodevelopment of basic multisensory integration -- both in children with autism and as well as in those with typical development. The first study applied event related potentials (ERPs) and behavioral measures of multisensory integration to a large group of healthy participants ranging …

On The Role Of Neuronal Oscillations In Auditory Cortical Processing, Monica Noelle O'Connell

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Although it has been over 100 years since William James stated that "everyone knows what attention is", its underlying neural mechanisms are still being debated today. The goal of this research was to describe the physiological mechanisms of auditory attention using direct electrophysiological recordings in macaque primary auditory cortex (A1). A major focus of my research was on the role ongoing neuronal oscillations play in attentional modulation of auditory responses in A1.

For all studies, laminar profiles of synaptic activity, (indexed by current source density analysis) and concomitant firing patterns in local neurons (multiunit activity) were acquired simultaneously via linear …

Common Parietal Activation In Musical Mental Transformations Across Pitch And Time, Nicholas E.V. Foster, Andrea R. Halpern, Robert J. Zatorre

Faculty Journal Articles

We previously observed that mental manipulation of the pitch level or temporal organization of melodies results in functional activation in the human intraparietal sulcus (IPS), a region also associated with visuospatial transformation and numerical calculation. Two outstanding questions about these musical transformations are whether pitch and time depend on separate or common processing in IPS, and whether IPS recruitment in melodic tasks varies depending upon the degree of transformation required (as it does in mental rotation). In the present study we sought to answer these questions by applying functional magnetic resonance imaging while musicians performed closely matched mental transposition (pitch …

“What” And “Where” In Auditory Sensory Processing: A High-Density Electrical Mapping Study Of Distinct Neural Processes Underlying Sound Object Recognition And Sound Localization, Victoria M. Leavitt, Sophie Molholm, Manuel Gomez-Ramirez, John J. Foxe

Publications and Research

Functionally distinct dorsal and ventral auditory pathways for sound localization (WHERE) and sound object recognition (WHAT) have been described in non-human primates. A handful of studies have explored differential processing within these streams in humans, with highly inconsistent findings. Stimuli employed have included simple tones, noise bursts, and speech sounds, with simulated left–right spatial manipulations, and in some cases participants were not required to actively discriminate the stimuli. Our contention is that these paradigms were not well suited to dissociating processing within the two streams. Our aim here was to determine how early in processing we …

P2x Antagonists Inhibit Styryl Dye Entry Into Hair Cells, M. A. Crumling, M. Tong, K. L. Aschenbach, L. Liu

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

The styryl pyridinium dyes, FM1-43 and AM1-43, are fluorescent molecules that can permeate the mechanotransduction channels of hair cells, the sensory receptors of the inner ear. When these dyes are applied to hair cells, they enter the cytoplasm rapidly, resulting in a readily detectable intracellular fluorescence that is often used as a molecular indication of mechanotransduction channel activity. However, such dyes can also permeate the ATP receptor, P2X2. Therefore, we explored the contribution of P2X receptors to the loading of hair cells with AM1-43. The chick inner ear was found to express P2X receptors and to release ATP, similar to …

P2x Antagonists Inhibit Styryl Dye Entry Into Hair Cells, M. A. Crumling, M. Tong, K. L. Aschenbach, L. Liu

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

The styryl pyridinium dyes, FM1-43 and AM1-43, are fluorescent molecules that can permeate the mechanotransduction channels of hair cells, the sensory receptors of the inner ear. When these dyes are applied to hair cells, they enter the cytoplasm rapidly, resulting in a readily detectable intracellular fluorescence that is often used as a molecular indication of mechanotransduction channel activity. However, such dyes can also permeate the ATP receptor, P2X2. Therefore, we explored the contribution of P2X receptors to the loading of hair cells with AM1-43. The chick inner ear was found to express P2X receptors and to release ATP, similar to …

Neural Substrates Of Sound–Touch Synesthesia After A Thalamic Lesion, Michael S. Beauchamp, Tony Ro

Publications and Research

Neural plasticity induced by stroke can mediate positive outcomes, such as recovery of function, but can also result in the formation of abnormal connections with negative consequences for perception and cognition. In three experiments using blood-oxygen level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined the neural substrates of acquired auditory-tactile synesthesia, in which certain sounds can produce an intense somatosensory tingling sensation in a patient with a thalamic lesion. Compared with nine normal controls, the first experiment showed that the patient had a threefold greater BOLD response to sounds in the parietal operculum, the location of secondary somatosensory cortex. …

Synaptic Transformations Underlying Highly Selective Auditory Representations Of Learned Birdsong, Melissa J. Coleman, Richard Mooney

WM Keck Science Faculty Papers

Stimulus-specific neuronal responses are a striking characteristic of several sensory systems, although the synaptic mechanisms underlying their generation are not well understood. The songbird nucleus HVC (used here as a proper name) contains projection neurons (PNs) that fire temporally sparse bursts of action potentials to playback of the bird's own song (BOS) but are essentially silent when presented with other acoustical stimuli. To understand how such remarkable stimulus specificity emerges, it is necessary to compare the auditory-evoked responsiveness of the afferents of HVC with synaptic responses in identified HVC neurons. We found that inactivating the interfacial nucleus of the nidopallium …

Hearing With The Mind's Eye, Gottfried Schlaug, Chi Chen, Dan Press, Andrea R. Halpern, Aisling Warde, Qun Chen, Alvaro Pascual-Leone

Faculty Journal Articles

No abstract provided.