A novel class of inferior colliculus principal neurons labeled in vasoactive intestinal peptide-Cre mice.
David GoyerMarina A SilveiraAlexander P GeorgeNichole L BeebeRyan M EdelbrockPeter T MalinskiBrett R SchofieldMichael T RobertsPublished in: eLife (2019)
Located in the midbrain, the inferior colliculus (IC) is the hub of the central auditory system. Although the IC plays important roles in speech processing, sound localization, and other auditory computations, the organization of the IC microcircuitry remains largely unknown. Using a multifaceted approach in mice, we have identified vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) neurons as a novel class of IC principal neurons. VIP neurons are glutamatergic stellate cells with sustained firing patterns. Their extensive axons project to long-range targets including the auditory thalamus, auditory brainstem, superior colliculus, and periaqueductal gray. Using optogenetic circuit mapping, we found that VIP neurons integrate input from the contralateral IC and the dorsal cochlear nucleus. The dorsal cochlear nucleus also drove feedforward inhibition to VIP neurons, indicating that inhibitory circuits within the IC shape the temporal integration of ascending inputs. Thus, VIP neurons are well-positioned to influence auditory computations in a number of brain regions.
Keyphrases
- spinal cord
- hearing loss
- working memory
- neuropathic pain
- spinal cord injury
- adipose tissue
- high fat diet induced
- multiple sclerosis
- induced apoptosis
- computed tomography
- mass spectrometry
- skeletal muscle
- cell death
- quality improvement
- pulmonary hypertension
- metabolic syndrome
- coronary artery
- pet imaging
- high density
- endoplasmic reticulum stress
- pi k akt