title: Gene expression identifies distinct ascending glutamatergic pathways to frequency-organized auditory cortex in the rat brain.
abstract: A conserved feature of sound processing across species is the presence of multiple auditory cortical fields with topographically organized responses to sound frequency. Current organizational schemes propose that the ventral division of the medial geniculate body (MGBv) is a single functionally homogenous structure that provides the primary source of input to all neighboring frequency-organized cortical fields. These schemes fail to account for the contribution of MGBv to functional diversity between frequency-organized cortical fields. Here, we report response property differences for two auditory fields in the rat, and find they have nonoverlapping sources of thalamic input from the MGBv that are distinguished by the gene expression for type 1 vesicular glutamate transporter. These data challenge widely accepted organizational schemes and demonstrate a genetic plurality in the ascending glutamatergic pathways to frequency-organized auditory cortex.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Behavioral Neuroscience Division, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA.
authors.forename: Douglas A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Storace
authors.forename: Nathan C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Higgins
authors.forename: Jennifer A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Chikar
authors.forename: Douglas L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Oliver
authors.forename: Heather L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Read
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000818:Animals; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000378:metabolism*; D001306:Auditory Pathways / Q000378:metabolism*; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000502:physiology; D015870:Gene Expression; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D013788:Thalamus / Q000378:metabolism; D050599:Vesicular Glutamate Transport Protein 2 / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D050599:Vesicular Glutamate Transport Protein 2; D018698:Glutamic Acid