Dynamic regulation of auditory context processing by cortical inhibition

描述(申请人提供)：GABA能抑制直接(通过对被检查神经元的突触抑制)或间接(通过抑制与其上突触的兴奋细胞)塑造听觉皮质中几乎每一个神经元的反应特性。这种抑制是由大约20%的皮质神经元产生的，这些神经元是GABA能的。这些神经元分为多个类别，具有不同的解剖、化学和生物物理特化，能够对皮质功能进行复杂和精确的调节。关于不同类型的抑制性神经元如何影响声音的皮质处理的完整描述尚未产生，但需要A)我们了解每种类型被激活的感觉或行为条件，以及B)我们了解它们的激活如何影响其直接目标和整个网络中的信息处理。这项建议的目的是测试清醒的小鼠，小白蛋白(PV)和生长抑素(SST)神经元，这两种数量最多的皮质抑制神经元，在关于它们功能的两个主要问题的背景下，是否对听觉加工有不同的贡献：1)它们的作用是否是选择性的 主要输入或在神经元感受场的所有部分都是相似的，以及2)它们在多大程度上调节了声学背景对神经反应的影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): GABAergic inhibition shapes the response properties of nearly every neuron in the auditory cortex, either directly (through synaptic inhibition onto th examined neuron) or indirectly (by inhibiting the excitatory cells that synapse onto it). This inhibition is generated by the roughly 20% of cortical neurons that are GABAergic. These neurons fall into multiple classes with distinct anatomical, chemical, and biophysical specializations, enabling intricate and precise modulation of cortical function. A full account of how the different types of inhibitory neurons shape cortical processing of sounds has yet to be generated, but will require A) that we understand the sensory or behavioral conditions in which each type is activated, and B) that we understand how their activation affects information processing in their direct targets and in the network overall. The goal of this proposal is to testin awake mice whether parvalbumin (PV) and somatostatin (SST) neurons, the two most numerous types of cortical inhibitory neuron, contribute differentially to auditory processing, in the context of two main questions about their function: 1) whether their effect is selective to non primary inputs or is similar across all parts of a neuron's receptive field, and 2) to what extent they mediate the effects of acoustic context on neural responses.