Speech sound discrimination by Mongolian gerbils

Juechter, Carolin; Beutelmann, Rainer; Klump, Georg M.

doi:10.1016/j.heares.2022.108472

Cited by 13 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…Specifically, different vowels have different formant frequencies ( f 1 – f 3 ), which are global regions of maximum energy in the vowel spectrum ( Diehl, 2008 ). Especially f 1 and f 2 were shown to be important for the discrimination of different vowels, both in gerbils and in humans ( Peterson and Barney, 1952 ; Jüchter et al, 2022 ). The spectrum of spoken vowels, as opposed to that of whispered vowels, also comprises harmonics of the fundamental frequency ( f 0 ), the pitch of the speaker’s voice, which does not systematically differ between vowels ( Diehl, 2008 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, gerbils can easily be trained to indicate their behavioral discrimination between different logatomes ( Sinnott et al, 1997 ; Sinnott and Mosteller, 2001 ). Importantly, young, normal-hearing gerbils experience the same confusions between different vowels as humans, although they need higher SNRs for equivalent performance ( Jüchter et al, 2022 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our previous studies on behavioral vowel discrimination in noise by young-adult gerbils revealed which vowels were difficult and which were easy to discriminate from each other ( Jüchter et al, 2022 ). Furthermore, neural vowel discrimination at the level of a single AN fiber agreed with behavioral discrimination when applying a spike timing-based discrimination metric ( Heeringa and Köppl, 2022 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Altered neural encoding of vowels in noise does not affect behavioral vowel discrimination in gerbils with age-related hearing loss

Heeringa,

Jüchter,

Beutelmann

et al. 2023

Front. Neurosci.

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IntroductionUnderstanding speech in a noisy environment, as opposed to speech in quiet, becomes increasingly more difficult with increasing age. Using the quiet-aged gerbil, we studied the effects of aging on speech-in-noise processing. Specifically, behavioral vowel discrimination and the encoding of these vowels by single auditory-nerve fibers were compared, to elucidate some of the underlying mechanisms of age-related speech-in-noise perception deficits.MethodsYoung-adult and quiet-aged Mongolian gerbils, of either sex, were trained to discriminate a deviant naturally-spoken vowel in a sequence of vowel standards against a speech-like background noise. In addition, we recorded responses from single auditory-nerve fibers of young-adult and quiet-aged gerbils while presenting the same speech stimuli.ResultsBehavioral vowel discrimination was not significantly affected by aging. For both young-adult and quiet-aged gerbils, the behavioral discrimination between /eː/ and /iː/ was more difficult to make than /eː/ vs. /aː/ or /iː/ vs. /aː/, as evidenced by longer response times and lower d’ values. In young-adults, spike timing-based vowel discrimination agreed with the behavioral vowel discrimination, while in quiet-aged gerbils it did not. Paradoxically, discrimination between vowels based on temporal responses was enhanced in aged gerbils for all vowel comparisons. Representation schemes, based on the spectrum of the inter-spike interval histogram, revealed stronger encoding of both the fundamental and the lower formant frequencies in fibers of quiet-aged gerbils, but no qualitative changes in vowel encoding. Elevated thresholds in combination with a fixed stimulus level, i.e., lower sensation levels of the stimuli for old individuals, can explain the enhanced temporal coding of the vowels in noise.DiscussionThese results suggest that the altered auditory-nerve discrimination metrics in old gerbils may mask age-related deterioration in the central (auditory) system to the extent that behavioral vowel discrimination matches that of the young adults.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Altered neural encoding of vowels in noise does not affect behavioral vowel discrimination in gerbils with age-related hearing loss

Heeringa,

Jüchter,

Beutelmann

et al. 2023

Front. Neurosci.

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“…Unlike other commonly used rodent models, like mice or rats, gerbils exhibit excellent low-frequency hearing capabilities, similar to humans (Ryan, 1976). Additionally, there is a large body of literature on gerbil auditory anatomy (Budinger et al, 2000a(Budinger et al, , 2000b(Budinger et al, , 2008Budinger & Scheich, 2009;Radtke-Schuller et al, 2016), development (Anbuhl et al, 2022;Caras & Sanes, 2015Müller, 1996;Rosen et al, 2010;Sanes, 1993;Sanes & Rubel, 1988), sound perception (Jüchter et al, 2022;von Trapp et al, 2016;Yao et al, 2020), auditory skill learning (Caras & Sanes, 2017Sarro & Sanes, 2011;Wetzel et al, 1998), hearing loss (Henry et al, 1980;Mills et al, 1990;Takesian et al, 2012;Tucci et al, 1999;von Trapp et al, 2017;Xu et al, 2007), and central nervous system function (Amaro et al, 2021;Belliveau et al, 2014;Buran et al, 2014;Franken et al, 2018;Kreeger et al, 2021;Lesica et al, 2010;Myoga et al, 2014;Yao & Sanes, 2021), spanning multiple decades. A more complete description of the inputs from the OFC to the gerbil auditory system would facilitate our understanding of the neural circuits that support rapid adjustments to the acoustic environment, and may additionally shed light on the mechanistic link between hearing status and cognitive function (Lin et al, 2011;Taljaard et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organization of orbitofrontal-auditory pathways in the Mongolian gerbil

Ying

Hamlette

Nikoobakht

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Sound perception is highly malleable, rapidly adjusting to the acoustic environment and behavioral demands. This flexibility is the result of ongoing changes in auditory cortical activity driven by fluctuations in attention, arousal, or prior expectations. Recent work suggests that the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) may mediate some of these rapid changes, but the anatomical connections between the OFC and the auditory system are not well-characterized. Here, we used virally-mediated fluorescent tracers to map the projection from OFC to the auditory midbrain, thalamus, and cortex in a classic animal model for auditory research, the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus). We observed no connectivity between the OFC and the auditory midbrain, and an extremely sparse connection between the dorsolateral OFC and higher-order auditory thalamic regions. In contrast, we observed a robust connection between the ventral and medial subdivisions of the OFC and the auditory cortex, with a clear bias for secondary auditory cortical regions. OFC axon terminals were found in all auditory cortical lamina but were significantly more concentrated in the infragranular layers. Tissue-clearing and lightsheet microscopy further revealed that auditory cortical-projecting OFC neurons send extensive axon collaterals throughout the brain, targeting both sensory and non-sensory regions involved in learning, decision-making, and memory. These findings provide a more detailed map of orbitofrontal-auditory connections and shed light on the possible role of the OFC in supporting auditory cognition.

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“…Unlike other commonly used rodent models, such as mice or rats, gerbils exhibit excellent low‐frequency hearing capabilities, similar to humans (Ryan, 1976). Additionally, there is a large body of literature on gerbil auditory anatomy (Budinger & Scheich, 2009; Budinger et al., 2000a, 2000b, 2008; Radtke‐Schuller et al., 2016), development (Anbuhl et al., 2022; Caras & Sanes, 2015, 2019; Müller, 1996; Rosen et al., 2010; Sanes, 1993; Sanes & Rubel, 1988), sound perception (Jüchter et al., 2022; von Trapp et al., 2016; Yao et al., 2020), auditory skill learning (Caras & Sanes, 2017, 2019; Sarro & Sanes, 2011; Wetzel et al., 1998), hearing loss (Henry et al., 1980; Mills et al., 1990; Takesian et al., 2012; Tucci et al., 1999; von Trapp et al., 2017; Xu et al., 2007), and central nervous system function (Amaro et al., 2021; Belliveau et al., 2014; Buran et al., 2014; Franken et al., 2018; Kreeger et al., 2021; Lesica et al., 2010; Myoga et al., 2014; Yao & Sanes, 2021), spanning multiple decades. A more complete description of the inputs from the OFC to the gerbil auditory system would facilitate our understanding of the neural circuits that support rapid adjustments to the acoustic environment and may additionally shed light on the mechanistic link between hearing status and cognitive function (Lin et al., 2011; Taljaard et al., 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organization of orbitofrontal‐auditory pathways in the Mongolian gerbil

Ying

Hamlette

Nikoobakht

et al. 2023

J of Comparative Neurology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sound perception is highly malleable, rapidly adjusting to the acoustic environment and behavioral demands. This flexibility is the result of ongoing changes in auditory cortical activity driven by fluctuations in attention, arousal, or prior expectations. Recent work suggests that the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) may mediate some of these rapid changes, but the anatomical connections between the OFC and the auditory system are not well characterized. Here, we used virally mediated fluorescent tracers to map the projection from OFC to the auditory midbrain, thalamus, and cortex in a classic animal model for auditory research, the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus). We observed no connectivity between the OFC and the auditory midbrain, and an extremely sparse connection between the dorsolateral OFC and higher order auditory thalamic regions. In contrast, we observed a robust connection between the ventral and medial subdivisions of the OFC and the auditory cortex, with a clear bias for secondary auditory cortical regions. OFC axon terminals were found in all auditory cortical lamina but were significantly more concentrated in the infragranular layers. Tissue‐clearing and lightsheet microscopy further revealed that auditory cortical‐projecting OFC neurons send extensive axon collaterals throughout the brain, targeting both sensory and non‐sensory regions involved in learning, decision‐making, and memory. These findings provide a more detailed map of orbitofrontal‐auditory connections and shed light on the possible role of the OFC in supporting auditory cognition.

show abstract

Speech sound discrimination by Mongolian gerbils

Cited by 13 publications

References 63 publications

Altered neural encoding of vowels in noise does not affect behavioral vowel discrimination in gerbils with age-related hearing loss

Altered neural encoding of vowels in noise does not affect behavioral vowel discrimination in gerbils with age-related hearing loss

Organization of orbitofrontal-auditory pathways in the Mongolian gerbil

Organization of orbitofrontal‐auditory pathways in the Mongolian gerbil

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