Ito Tetsufumi, Yamamoto Mamiko, Liu Li, Saqib Khaleeq Ahmad, Furuyama Takafumi, Ono Munenori
Systems Function and Morphology Laboratory, Graduate School of Innovative Life Science, University of Toyama, Toyama 930-0194 Japan.
Anatomy 2, School of Medicine, Kanazawa Medical University, Uchinada 920-0265 Japan.
iScience. 2025 Jan 1;28(2):111721. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.111721. eCollection 2025 Feb 21.
Perception of the environment is multimodal in nature, with sensory systems intricately interconnected. The ability to integrate multimodal sensations while preserving the distinct characteristics of each sensory modality is crucial, and the underlying mechanisms of the organization that facilitate this process require further elucidation. In the auditory system, although the concept of core and shell pathways is well established, the brain-wide input/output relationships of thalamic regions projecting to auditory-responsive cortical areas remain insufficiently studied, particularly in relation to non-auditory structures. In this study, we utilized functional imaging and viral tracing techniques to map the brain-wide connections of core and shell pathways. We identified three distinct shell pathways, in addition to a core pathway, each exhibiting unique associations with non-auditory structures involved in behavior, emotion, and other functions. This architecture suggests that these pathways contribute differentially to various aspects of multimodal sensory integration.
对环境的感知本质上是多模态的，感觉系统错综复杂地相互连接。在保留每种感觉模态独特特征的同时整合多模态感觉的能力至关重要，而促进这一过程的组织的潜在机制需要进一步阐明。在听觉系统中，尽管核心和壳通路的概念已得到充分确立，但投射到听觉反应性皮质区域的丘脑区域的全脑输入/输出关系仍研究不足，特别是与非听觉结构相关的关系。在本研究中，我们利用功能成像和病毒示踪技术绘制了核心和壳通路的全脑连接图。除了核心通路外，我们还识别出三条不同的壳通路，每条通路都与参与行为、情绪和其他功能的非听觉结构表现出独特的关联。这种结构表明，这些通路对多模态感觉整合的各个方面有不同的贡献。
