Response properties of neighboring neurons in the auditory midbrain

The inferior colliculus, the primary nucleus in the mammalian auditory midbrain, occupies a central position in the ascending auditory pathway. Nearly all ascending neural pathways converge and synapse in the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (ICC). Further, the anatomical arrangement of axons and neurons in the ICC suggests the existence of functional regions which may play a role in organizing different types of physiological information. To investigate this organization, we characterized the response properties of neighboring neurons in the ICC. To record reliably from neighboring neurons, we adopted a relatively new electrophysiological technique, tetrode recordings. Tetrodes have four closely spaced recording sites (<20[mu]m) which record multi-unit activity from a small number of neighboring neurons. The recorded signals contain action potentials originating from more than one neuron. Based on action potential wave shape differences across the four channels, we can reconstruct the contributions of individual neurons. Applying tetrode recordings to the ICC of anesthetized cats, we successfully reconstructed individual spike trains for 190 neurons at 52 recording sites.

Department dc:contributor.department

Harvard University--MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Seshagiri, Chandran V. (Chandran Venkatraman)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Bertrand Delgutte.

• Harvard University--MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/35512
• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Identifier URI

http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/35512

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/35512