title: On the classification of pathways in the auditory midbrain, thalamus, and cortex.
abstract: Auditory forebrain pathways exhibit several morphological and physiological properties that underlie their specific neurobiological roles in auditory processing. Anatomically, such projections can be distinguished by their terminal size, arborization patterns, and postsynaptic dendritic locations. These structural features correlate with several postsynaptic physiological properties, such as EPSP amplitude, short-term plasticity, and postsynaptic receptor types. Altogether, these synaptic properties segregate into two main classes that are associated with either primarily information-bearing (Class 1) or modulatory (Class 2) roles, and have been used to delineate the principle routes of information flow through the auditory midbrain, thalamus, and cortex. Moreover, these synaptic properties engender as yet unexplored issues regarding the neuronal processing of auditory information, such as the convergent integration and long-term plasticity of auditory forebrain inputs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
authors.forename: Charles C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: S Murray
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Sherman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D001306:Auditory Pathways / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D003712:Dendrites / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006801:Humans; D008636:Mesencephalon / Q000502:physiology*; D009411:Nerve Endings / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000166:cytology; D016548:Prosencephalon / Q000502:physiology; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology; D055366:Synaptic Potentials; D013788:Thalamus / Q000502:physiology*