Vocal corollary discharge communicates call duration to vertebrate auditory system

Corollary discharge is essential to an animal's ability to filter self-generated from external stimuli. This includes acoustic communication, although direct demonstration of a corollary discharge that both conveys a vocal motor signal and informs the auditory system about the physical attribut...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of neuroscience 2013-11, Vol.33 (48), p.18775-18780
Main Authors: Chagnaud, Boris P, Bass, Andrew H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Communication
Animals
Auditory Pathways - physiology
Biotin - analogs & derivatives
Brief Communications
Efferent Pathways - physiology
Electric Stimulation
Electrophysiological Phenomena
Fishes - physiology
Hearing - physiology
Male
Mesencephalon - physiology
Motor Neurons - physiology
Neurons - physiology
Neurons, Efferent - physiology
Rhombencephalon - physiology
Sensation - physiology
Sensory Gating - physiology
Software
Vocalization, Animal - physiology
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Summary:Corollary discharge is essential to an animal's ability to filter self-generated from external stimuli. This includes acoustic communication, although direct demonstration of a corollary discharge that both conveys a vocal motor signal and informs the auditory system about the physical attributes of a self-generated vocalization has remained elusive for vertebrates. Here, we show the underlying synaptic activity of a neuronal vocal corollary discharge pathway in the hindbrain of a highly vocal species of fish. Neurons carrying the vocal corollary discharge are specifically adapted for the transmission of duration information, a predominant acoustic cue. The results reveal that vertebrates, like some insects, have a robust corollary discharge conveying call duration. Along with evidence for the influence of vocal duration on auditory encoding in mammals, these new findings suggest that linking vocal motor and corollary discharge pathways with pattern generating, call duration neurons is a shared network character across the animal kingdom.
ISSN:0270-6474
1529-2401
1529-2401
DOI:10.1523/jneurosci.3140-13.2013