Whole-cell patch-clamp recording reveals subthreshold sound-evoked postsynaptic currents in the inferior colliculus of awake bats.

The inferior colliculus receives excitatory and inhibitory input from parallel auditory pathways that differ in discharge patterns, latencies, and binaural properties. Processing in the inferior colliculus may depend on the temporal sequence in which excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs are activated and on the resulting balance between excitation and inhibition. To explore this issue at the cellular level, we used the novel approach of whole-cell patch-clamp recording in the midbrain of awake bats (Eptesicus fuscus) to record EPSCs or IPSCs. Sound-evoked EPSCs were recorded in most neurons. These EPSCs were frequently preceded by an IPSC, followed by an IPSC, or both. These findings help explain the large latency range and transient responses that characterize inferior colliculus neurons. The EPSC was sometimes followed by long-lasting oscillatory currents, suggesting that a single brief sound sets up a pattern of altered excitability that persists far beyond the duration of the initial sound. In three binaural neurons, ipsilateral sound evoked a large IPSC that partially or totally canceled the EPSC evoked by contralateral sound. In one binaural neuron with ipsilaterally evoked IPSCs, contralaterally evoked IPSCs occurred in response to frequencies above and below the neuron's best frequency. Thus, both monaural and binaural interactions can occur at single inferior colliculus neurons. These results show that whole-cell patch-clamp recording offers a powerful means of understanding how subthreshold processes determine the responses of auditory neurons.