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Commissural connections mediate inhibition for the computation of interaural level difference in the barn owl

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Summary

In the barn owl (Tyto alba), the posterior nucleus of the ventral lateral lemniscus (VLVp) is the first site of binaural convergence in the pathway that processes interaural level difference (ILD), an important sound-localization cue. The neurons of VLVp are sensitive to ILD because of an excitatory input from the contralateral ear and an inhibitory input from the ipsilateral ear. A previously described projection from the contralateral cochlear nucleus, can account for the excitation. The present study addresses the source of the inhibitory input.

We demonstrate with standard axonal transport methods that the left and right VLVps are interconnected via fibers of the commissure of Probst. We further show that the anesthetization of one VLVp renders ineffective the inhibition that is normally evoked by stimulation of the ipsilateral ear. Thus, one cochlear nucleus (driven by the ipsilateral ear) appears to provide inhibition to the ipsilateral VLVp by exciting commissurally-projecting inhibitory neurons in the contralateral VLVp.

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Abbreviations

ABL :

average binaural level

CP :

commissure of Probst

DNLL :

dorsal nucleus of the lateral lemniscus

IC :

inferior colliculus

ILD :

interaural level difference

IPc :

nucleus isthmi, pars parvocellularis

ITD :

interaural time difference

LSO :

lateral superior olive

MNTB :

medial nucleus of the trapezoid body

NA :

nucleus angularis

SL :

nucleus semilunaris

VLVa :

nucleus ventralis lemnisci lateralis, pars anterior

VLVp :

nucleus ventralis lemnisci lateralis, pars posterior

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Takahashi, T.T., Keller, C.H. Commissural connections mediate inhibition for the computation of interaural level difference in the barn owl. J Comp Physiol A 170, 161–169 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00196898

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