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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Neurosci.
Sec. Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience
Volume 18 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1446929
This article is part of the Research Topic Bridging the Gap Between the Different Pillars of Tinnitus Research View all 3 articles

Inhibitory effects of prepulse stimuli on the electrophysiological responses to startle stimuli in the deep layers of the superior colliculus

Provisionally accepted
Yu Ding Yu Ding 1,2*Huan Jiang Huan Jiang 1Na Xu Na Xu 3Liang Li Liang Li 2*
  • 1 School of Psychology, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing, China
  • 2 School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Faculty of Science, Peking University, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
  • 3 Beijing Research Institute for Tuberculosis Control, Beijing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Prepulse inhibition (PPI) is a phenomenon where a weak prepulse stimulus inhibits the startle reflex to a subsequent stronger stimulus, which can be induced by various sensory stimulus modalities such as visual, tactile, and auditory stimuli. This study investigates the neural mechanisms underlying auditory PPI by focusing on the deep layers of the superior colliculus (deepSC) and the inferior colliculus (IC) in rats. Nineteen male Sprague-Dawley rats were implanted with electrodes in the left deepSC and the right IC, and electrophysiological recordings were conducted under anesthesia to observe the frequency following responses (FFRs) to startle stimuli with and without prepulse stimuli. Our results showed that in the deepSC, narrowband noise as a prepulse stimulus significantly inhibited the envelope component of the startle response, while the fine structure component remained unaffected. However, this inhibitory effect was not observed in the IC or when the prepulse stimulus was a gap. These findings suggest that the deepSC plays a crucial role in the neural circuitry of PPI, particularly in the modulation of the envelope component of the startle response. The differential effects of narrowband noise and gap as prepulse stimuli also indicate distinct neural pathways for sound-induced PPI and Gap-PPI.Understanding these mechanisms could provide insights into sensory processing and potential therapeutic targets for disorders involving impaired PPI, such as tinnitus.

    Keywords: prepulse inhibition, superior colliculus, inferior colliculus, frequency following response, Tinnitus

    Received: 10 Jun 2024; Accepted: 31 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Ding, Jiang, Xu and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Yu Ding, School of Psychology, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing, 100083, China
    Liang Li, School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Faculty of Science, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, Beijing Municipality, China

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