Department of Systems Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44780, Bochum, Germany.
Department of Otolaryngology, Kresge Hearing Research Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Sci Rep. 2021 Mar 25;11(1):6887. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-86236-9.
Multisensory integration of auditory and tactile information occurs already at the level of the cochlear nucleus. Rodents use their whiskers for tactile perception to guide them in their exploration of the world. As nocturnal animals with relatively poor vision, audiotactile interactions are of great importance for this species. Here, the influence of whisker deflections on sound-evoked spiking in the cochlear nucleus was investigated in vivo in anesthetized mice. Multichannel, silicon-probe electrophysiological recordings were obtained from both the dorsal and ventral cochlear nucleus. Whisker deflections evoked an increased spiking activity in fusiform cells of the dorsal cochlear nucleus and t-stellate cells in ventral cochlear nucleus, whereas bushy cells in the ventral cochlear nucleus showed a more variable response. The response to broadband noise stimulation increased in fusiform cells and primary-like bushy cells when the sound stimulation was preceded (~ 20 ms) by whisker stimulation. Multi-sensory integration of auditory and whisker input can thus occur already in this early brainstem nucleus, emphasizing the importance of early integration of auditory and somatosensory information.
听觉和触觉信息的多感觉整合早在耳蜗核水平就已经发生。啮齿动物使用它们的胡须进行触觉感知，以引导它们探索世界。作为夜视动物，视力相对较差，听觉-触觉相互作用对该物种非常重要。在这里，在麻醉小鼠体内研究了胡须偏斜对耳蜗核中声音诱发尖峰的影响。从耳蜗核的背侧和腹侧获得了多通道硅探针电生理记录。胡须偏斜引起背侧耳蜗核中的梭形细胞和腹侧耳蜗核中的 t 形星形细胞的放电活动增加，而腹侧耳蜗核中的毛细胞则表现出更可变的反应。当声音刺激之前 (~20ms) 有胡须刺激时，宽带噪声刺激的反应在梭形细胞和初级样毛细胞中增加。因此，听觉和胡须输入的多感觉整合已经可以在这个早期的脑干核中发生，这强调了听觉和躯体感觉信息早期整合的重要性。
