Dataset Information

A cerebellum-like circuit in the auditory system cancels responses to self-generated sounds.

ABSTRACT: The dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) integrates auditory nerve input with a diverse array of sensory and motor signals processed in circuitry similar to that of the cerebellum. Yet how the DCN contributes to early auditory processing has been a longstanding puzzle. Using electrophysiological recordings in mice during licking behavior, we show that DCN neurons are largely unaffected by self-generated sounds while remaining sensitive to external acoustic stimuli. Recordings in deafened mice, together with neural activity manipulations, indicate that self-generated sounds are cancelled by non-auditory signals conveyed by mossy fibers. In addition, DCN neurons exhibit gradual reductions in their responses to acoustic stimuli that are temporally correlated with licking. Together, these findings suggest that DCN may act as an adaptive filter for cancelling self-generated sounds. Adaptive filtering has been established previously for cerebellum-like sensory structures in fish, suggesting a conserved function for such structures across vertebrates.

SUBMITTER: Singla S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5525154 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A cerebellum-like circuit in the auditory system cancels responses to self-generated sounds.

Singla Shobhit S Dempsey Conor C Warren Richard R Enikolopov Armen G AG Sawtell Nathaniel B NB

Nature neuroscience 20170522 7

The dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) integrates auditory nerve input with a diverse array of sensory and motor signals processed in circuitry similar to that of the cerebellum. Yet how the DCN contributes to early auditory processing has been a longstanding puzzle. Using electrophysiological recordings in mice during licking behavior, we show that DCN neurons are largely unaffected by self-generated sounds while remaining sensitive to external acoustic stimuli. Recordings in deafened mice, together ...[more]

PMID: 28530663

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Project description:Since the early 1970s, numerous behavioral studies have shown that self-generated touch feels less intense and less ticklish than the same touch applied externally. Computational motor control theories have suggested that cerebellar internal models predict the somatosensory consequences of our movements and that these predictions attenuate the perception of the actual touch. Despite this influential theoretical framework, little is known about the neural basis of this predictive attenuation. This is due to the limited number of neuroimaging studies, the presence of conflicting results about the role and the location of cerebellar activity, and the lack of behavioral measures accompanying the neural findings. Here, we combined psychophysics with fMRI to detect the neural processes underlying somatosensory attenuation in male and female healthy human participants. Activity in bilateral secondary somatosensory areas was attenuated when the touch was presented during a self-generated movement (self-generated touch) than in the absence of movement (external touch). An additional attenuation effect was observed in the cerebellum that is ipsilateral to the passive limb receiving the touch. Importantly, we further found that the degree of functional connectivity between the ipsilateral cerebellum and the contralateral primary and bilateral secondary somatosensory areas was linearly and positively related to the degree of behaviorally assessed attenuation; that is, the more participants perceptually attenuated their self-generated touches, the stronger this corticocerebellar coupling. Collectively, these results suggest that the ipsilateral cerebellum is fundamental in predicting self-generated touch and that this structure implements somatosensory attenuation via its functional connectivity with somatosensory areas.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT When we touch our hand with the other, the resulting sensation feels less intense than when another person or a machine touches our hand with the same intensity. Early computational motor control theories have proposed that the cerebellum predicts and cancels the sensory consequences of our movements; however, the neural correlates of this cancelation remain unknown. By means of fMRI, we show that the more participants attenuate the perception of their self-generated touch, the stronger the functional connectivity between the cerebellum and the somatosensory cortical areas. This provides conclusive evidence about the role of the cerebellum in predicting the sensory feedback of our movements and in attenuating the associated percepts via its connections to early somatosensory areas.

Dataset Information

A cerebellum-like circuit in the auditory system cancels responses to self-generated sounds.

Publications

A cerebellum-like circuit in the auditory system cancels responses to self-generated sounds.

Similar Datasets

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