Auditory signals evolve from hybrid- to eye-centered coordinates in the primate superior colliculus.
Abstract
Visual and auditory spatial signals initially arise in different reference frames.
It has been postulated that auditory signals are translated from a head-centered to
an eye-centered frame of reference compatible with the visual spatial maps, but, to
date, only various forms of hybrid reference frames for sound have been identified.
Here, we show that the auditory representation of space in the superior colliculus
involves a hybrid reference frame immediately after the sound onset but evolves to
become predominantly eye centered, and more similar to the visual representation,
by the time of a saccade to that sound. Specifically, during the first 500 ms after
the sound onset, auditory response patterns (N = 103) were usually neither head nor
eye centered: 64% of neurons showed such a hybrid pattern, whereas 29% were more eye
centered and 8% were more head centered. This differed from the pattern observed for
visual targets (N = 156): 86% were eye centered, <1% were head centered, and only
13% exhibited a hybrid of both reference frames. For auditory-evoked activity observed
within 20 ms of the saccade (N = 154), the proportion of eye-centered response patterns
increased to 69%, whereas the hybrid and head-centered response patterns dropped to
30% and <1%, respectively. This pattern approached, although did not quite reach,
that observed for saccade-related activity for visual targets: 89% were eye centered,
11% were hybrid, and <1% were head centered (N = 162). The plainly eye-centered visual
response patterns and predominantly eye-centered auditory motor response patterns
lie in marked contrast to our previous study of the intraparietal cortex, where both
visual and auditory sensory and motor-related activity used a predominantly hybrid
reference frame (Mullette-Gillman et al. 2005, 2009). Our present findings indicate
that auditory signals are ultimately translated into a reference frame roughly similar
to that used for vision, but suggest that such signals might emerge only in motor
areas responsible for directing gaze to visual and auditory stimuli.
Type
Journal articleSubject
NeuronsAnimals
Macaca mulatta
Acoustic Stimulation
Analysis of Variance
Photic Stimulation
Sound Localization
Space Perception
Psychomotor Performance
Action Potentials
Head Movements
Saccades
Time Factors
Female
Male
Statistics as Topic
Superior Colliculi
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/17893Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1152/jn.00706.2011Publication Info
Lee, Jungah; & Groh, Jennifer M (2012). Auditory signals evolve from hybrid- to eye-centered coordinates in the primate superior
colliculus. Journal of neurophysiology, 108(1). pp. 227-242. 10.1152/jn.00706.2011. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/17893.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Jennifer M. Groh
Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
Research in my laboratory concerns how sensory and motor systems work together, and
how neural representations play a combined role in sensorimotor and cognitive processing
(embodied cognition).
Most of our work concerns the interactions between vision and hearing. We frequently
perceive visual and auditory stimuli as being bound together if they seem likely to
have arisen from a common source. That's why we tend not to notice that the speakers
on TV sets or in movie theatres are located bes

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