Dynamic regulation of auditory context processing by cortical inhibition

描述（由申请人提供）：GABA能抑制直接（通过对所检查的神经元的突触抑制）或间接（通过抑制与其突触连接的兴奋性细胞）塑造听觉皮层中几乎每个神经元的反应特性。这种抑制是由大约20%的GABA能皮质神经元产生的。这些神经元分为不同的解剖，化学和生物物理专业化的多个类别，使复杂和精确的皮质功能的调制。关于不同类型的抑制性神经元如何影响皮层对声音的处理，我们还没有得到一个完整的解释，但这需要：A）我们了解每种类型的抑制性神经元被激活的感觉或行为条件; B）我们了解它们的激活如何影响它们的直接目标和整个网络的信息处理。本研究的目的是在清醒的小鼠中测试小白蛋白（PV）和生长抑素（SST）神经元这两种数量最多的皮层抑制性神经元是否对听觉加工有不同的贡献，主要涉及两个关于它们功能的问题：1）它们的作用是否是选择性的， 初级输入或在神经元感受野的所有部分都是相似的，以及2）它们在多大程度上介导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.