Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: Neurons throughout the sensory pathway adapt their responses depending on the statistical structure of the sensory environment. Contrast gain control is a form of adaptation in the auditory cortex, but it is unclear whether the dynamics of gain control reflect efficient adaptation, and whether they shape behavioral perception. Here, we trained mice to detect a target presented in background noise shortly after a change in the contrast of the background. The observed changes in cortical gain and behavioral detection followed the dynamics of a normative model of efficient contrast gain control; specifically, target detection and sensitivity improved slowly in low contrast, but degraded rapidly in high contrast. Auditory cortex was required for this task, and cortical responses were not only similarly affected by contrast but predicted variability in behavioral performance. Combined, our results demonstrate that dynamic gain adaptation supports efficient coding in auditory cortex and predicts the perception of sounds in noise.
Source: Nature Communications
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $6,290
Awards: G2224248636, G2300294743, Neuronal circuits supporting learning-driven changes in auditory perception, G2603663089, G4820444653, G5037513767, G5107555409, G5505977837, Circuit Mechanisms of Sound Processing and Detection in the Auditory Pathway, The function of cortical gain adaptation in detecting sounds in noise., G6027011387, G652586474, Cross-disciplinary training in computational approaches to the neuroscience of audition and communication, G8135190971, Neuronal circuits for context-driven bias in auditory categorization
OpenAlex ID: W4385693557