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Functional organization of the local circuit in the inferior colliculus

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Abstract

The inferior colliculus (IC) is the first integration center of the auditory system. After the transformation of sound to neural signals in the cochlea, the signals are analyzed by brainstem auditory nuclei that, in turn, transmit this information to the IC. However, the neural circuitry that underlies this integration is unclear. This review consists of two parts: one is about the cell type which is likely to integrate sound information, and the other is about a technique which is useful for studying local circuitry. Large GABAergic (LG) neurons receive dense excitatory axosomatic terminals that originate from the lower brainstem auditory nuclei as well as local IC neurons. Dozens of axons coming from both local and lower brainstem neurons converge on a single LG soma. Excitatory neurons in IC can innervate many nearby LG somata in the same fibrodendritic lamina. The combination of local and ascending inputs is well suited for auditory integration. LG neurons are one of the main sources of inhibition in the medial geniculate body (MGB). LG neurons and the tectothalamic inhibitory system are present in a wide variety of mammalian species. This suggests that the circuitry of excitatory and inhibitory tectothalamic projections may have evolved earlier than GABAergic interneurons in the MGB, which are found in fewer species. Cellular-level functional imaging provides both morphological and functional information about local circuitry. In the last part of this review, we describe an in vivo calcium imaging study that sheds light on the functional organization of the IC.

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Acknowledgments

Most of this study is based on long-term collaboration with many people in the Department of Anatomy, University of Fukui (Professor Satoshi Iino), Department of Morphological Brain Science, Kyoto University (Professor Takeshi Kaneko), and Department of Human and Artificial Intelligence Systems, University of Fukui (Professor Kazuyuki Murase and late Professor Hiroshi Ikeda). Authors are grateful to Professors Eric D. Young (Johns Hopkins University), Masahiko Takada (Kyoto University), Yuchio Yanagawa (Gunma University), and Hiroshi Riquimaroux (Doshisha University) for providing brain samples. This work was supported by grants from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (grant number 22700365 and 25430034, T.I.), the Uehara Memorial Foundation (T.I.), the Ichiro Kanehara Foundation (T.I.), NOVARTIS Foundation for the Promotion of Science (T.I.), Research and Education Program for Life Science of University of Fukui (T.I.), and NIH R01 DC00189 (D.L.O.).

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  1. Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Eiheiji, Fukui, 910-1193, Japan

    Tetsufumi Ito

  2. Research and Education Program for Life Science, University of Fukui, Fukui, Fukui, 910-8507, Japan

    Tetsufumi Ito

  3. Department of Neuroscience, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, 06030-3401, USA

    Deborah C. Bishop & Douglas L. Oliver

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  1. Tetsufumi Ito
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Correspondence to Tetsufumi Ito.

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Ito, T., Bishop, D.C. & Oliver, D.L. Functional organization of the local circuit in the inferior colliculus. Anat Sci Int 91, 22–34 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12565-015-0308-8

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