Coding of auditory space in the mouse superior colliculus

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The Superior Colliculus (SC) plays an essential role in processing auditory information to assess saliency and promote action; however, the underlying cell types and circuitry used to encode sound source locations remain largely unknown. Work done in primates and ferrets has shown that the receptive fields (RFs) of neurons in the deep SC (dSC) are organized in a 2-dimensional map of auditory space. This has recently been shown to also be true in the mouse, an organism that already has molecular and genetic tools available that will allow us to dissect circuitry to understand how this map forms. The overall objective of this application is to determine the functional properties of auditory neurons in the mouse SC, determine how these properties are encoded, and determine which brainstem and cortical inputs influence these properties. Our central hypothesis is that a combination of interaural level differences (ILD) and two sets of spectral cues are used to compute a 2-dimensional map of sound space; these are inherited from different brainstem regions and are modulated by the cortex. The goal of Specific Aim 1 is to test the hypothesis that the 2-dimensional map of sound space is encoded by the SC using a combination of ILDs and two sets of spectral cue patterns. To achieve this we will stimulate awake head-fixed mice, allowed to freely run on a treadmill, with spatially/temporally/spectrally restricted auditory stimuli, then simultaneously record SC neuronal response properties of thousands of auditory responsive neurons. Data analysis will determine the spatiotemporal and spectral/temporal receptive fields (RFs) of auditory neurons, their locations within the SC, the dependence of their RFs on ILDs and specific frequency combinations, and if these properties are modulated by locomotion. Experiments proposed in Specific Aim 2 will test the hypothesis that the SC computes sound location by combining inputs from different brainstem nuclei. We will record the response properties of the brachium of the inferior colliculus, the external nucleus of the IC, and the nucleus of the lateral lemniscus to auditory stimuli, and compare their RF properties to those in the SC. We will also use optogenetics to selectively excite or inhibit neurons that project from these areas to the SC in order to identify their specific contributions to the SC responses. In Specific Aim 3 we test the hypothesis that the direct projection from the auditory cortex to the SC is used to modulate the response properties of dSC neurons by measuring the response properties of auditory SC neurons both in mice that lack a cortico-collicular projection, and in those that have their auditory cortico-collicular projection silenced via optogenetics. The proposed research plan is significant because the results will establish the mouse SC as a model to study auditory spatial mapping and eventually auditory/visual spatial integration. Our findings will also lead to a better understanding of the neuronal circuitry used to compute auditory scenes in the awake behaving animal, and will shine light on neurodevelopmental disorders that have deficits in the auditory system.