Auditory cortex contributes to discrimination of pure tones

Abstract

Auditory cortex is topographically organized for sound frequency, and contains highly selective frequency-tuned neurons, yet the role of auditory cortex in the perception of sound frequency remains unclear. Lesion studies have shown that auditory cortex is not essential for frequency discrimination of pure tones. However, transient pharmacological inactivation has been reported to impair frequency discrimination. This suggests the possibility that successful tone discrimination after recovery from lesion surgery could arise from long-term reorganization or plasticity of compensatory pathways. Here we compared the effects of lesions and optogenetic suppression of auditory cortex on frequency discrimination in mice. We found that transient bilateral optogenetic suppression partially but significantly impaired discrimination performance. In contrast, bilateral electrolytic lesions of auditory cortex had no effect on performance of the identical task, even when tested only 4 hours after lesion. This suggests that when auditory cortex is destroyed, an alternative pathway is almost immediately adequate for mediating frequency discrimination. Yet this alternative pathway is insufficient for task performance when auditory cortex is intact but has its activity suppressed. These results indicate a fundamental difference between the effects of brain lesions and optogenetic suppression, and suggest the existence of a rapid compensatory process possibly induced by injury.

Significance Statement The role of auditory cortex in the perception of elementary sound properties has remained unclear. Here we show that even though damage to auditory cortex has no effect on an animal's ability to discriminate sound frequency, auditory cortex is nevertheless involved in frequency discrimination when it isn't damaged. These results suggest that the ability to recover from brain damage requires mechanisms beyond the loss of neural activity in the damaged part of the brain.