Auditory input to a vocal nucleus in the frog Rana pipiens: hormonal and seasonal effects.
In Rana pipiens, single unit recordings from the pretrigeminal nucleus (pre-V), a nucleus involved in call production, demonstrated neurons that respond to auditory stimuli. Most of these neurons had V-shaped tuning curves, with best excitatory frequencies between 200-1400 Hz, thresholds between 31-87 dB SPL, latencies between 10-50 ms, and Q (10 dB) between 1.3-5.1. The number of pre-V neurons that responded to acoustic stimulation increased after gonadotropin injections, and appeared to increase during the breeding season. In addition, a small number of neurons with more complex response properties, such as W-shaped tuning curves or sensitivity to white noise but not to pure tones, appeared after hormone treatments. The hormonal and possible seasonal effects on pre-V auditory activity suggest that the auditory input to this vocal nucleus may play a role in reproductive behavior.
D000818:Animals; D001306:Auditory Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008526:Medulla Oblongata / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D011571:Psychoacoustics; D011894:Rana pipiens; D012621:Seasons; D014828:Vocalization, Animal / Q000502:physiology*
D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin