Tonotopy is not preserved in a descending stage of auditory cortex
Previous studies based on layer specificity suggest that ascending signals from the thalamus to the sensory neocortex preserve spatially organized information, but it remains unknown whether sensory information descending from sensory neocortex to the thalamus also maintains such spatial organization pattern. By focusing on projection specificity, we mapped the tone response properties of two groups of cortical neurons in the primary auditory cortex (A1), based on the relationship between their specific connections to other regions and their function in ascending (thalamocortical recipient [TR] neurons) or descending (corticothalamic [CT] neurons) auditory information. A clear tonotopic gradient was observed among TR neurons, but not CT neurons. Additionally, CT neurons exhibited markedly higher heterogeneity in their frequency tuning and had broader bandwidth than TR neurons. These results reveal that the information flow descending from A1 to the thalamus via CT neurons is not arranged tonotopically, suggesting that the descending information flow possibly contributes to higher-order feedback processing of diverse auditory inputs.
Authors
- Xiaowei Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0906-6666)
- Hongbo Jia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1585-2161)
- Yi Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2623-8960)
- Jiahui Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9576-5636)
- Miaoqing Gu
- Ruijie Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4402-2186)
- Xiang Liao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6324-5206)
- Frank W. Ohl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8260-9423)
- Ke Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0505-920X)
- Yun Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2930-2163)
- Chunqing Zhang
- Shanshan Liang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0336-3977)
- Jianxiong Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2245-8752)
- Xuanyue Wang
Institutions
- Guangxi University (CN)
- Army Medical University (CN)
- Chongqing University (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology (CN)
- Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology (CN)
- Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter (CN)
- Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences (DE)
- Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg (DE)
- Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- eLife
- Published
- 2025-10-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.99989.3
- Primary Topic
- Neural dynamics and brain function
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00