Numerous reports of human electrophysiology have demonstrated gamma (30-150 Hz) frequency oscillations in the auditory cortex during listening. However, only a small number of studies in non-human animals have provided evidence for gamma oscillations during listening. In this report, multi-site recordings from primary auditory cortex (A1) were carried out using a 16-channel microelectrode array in awake rats as they passively listened to tones. We

Electrical synapses are mediated by channels known as gap junctions, which are formed by oligomerization of connexin 36 (CX36) proteins in neurons. Recently, we developed a lentivector that carries a dominant negative form of the CX36 which blocks the generation of electrical synapses. Experimental evidence collected in intracellular recordings in vitro support the hypothesis that the role of electrical synapses is to synchronize neuronal networks

When songbirds hear song and other complex sounds, the expression of activity-dependent genes is markedly induced in discrete areas of the auditory pathway, including the dorsal part of the midbrain's lateral nucleus (MLd) and the caudomedial nidopallium (NCM). Importantly, the strength of this transcriptional response depends on stimulus type, with conspecific song inducing higher overall expression of zenk, Arc and c-Fos mRNAs compared to other

We have automated the detection of nuclear and cytoplasmic patterns gene expression in the telencephalon of zebra finch. The spatial distribution of activated cells was used to determine the sensory representation of different stimulus classes. This procedure reveals the relationship between the stimulus classes used to induce the gene expression and the spatial pattern of induction.

In many biological systems, information about the environment is detected by a large array of sensory receptors; it reaches more central regions of the nervous system as parallel streams of spike trains. How this ‡ow of information is processed and which features are most salient to the organism is a central problem in neuroscience. A com- prehensive and systematic approach to the analysis of the relationships between stimuli and their neural representations