Optical imaging of binaural interaction in multiple fields of the guinea pig auditory cortex

Abstract

Locating the source of a sound is an important function of the auditory system and interaural intensity differences are one of the most important cues. To study the functional pathways of sound localisation processing in the auditory cortex, activity in multiple fields of the guinea pig auditory cortex during stimulation with interaural intensity differences was studied using optical imaging with a voltage-sensitive dye. Of the auditory core (primary and dorsocaudal) and the belt fields which surround them, the posterior and ventroposterior belt fields were the most sensitive to interaural intensity differences. This suggests that the caudal pathway of the auditory cortex is involved in sound localisation.