Abstract
The left hemisphere’s dominance in processing social communication has been known for over a century, but the mechanisms underlying this lateralized cortical function are poorly understood. Here, we compare the structure, function, and development of each auditory cortex (ACx) in the mouse to look for specializations that may underlie lateralization. Using Fos brain volume imaging, we found greater activation in the left ACx in response to vocalizations, while the right ACx responded more to frequency sweeps. In vivo recordings identified hemispheric differences in spectrotemporal selectivity, reinforcing their functional differences. We then compared the synaptic connectivity within each hemisphere and discovered lateralized circuit-motifs that are hearing experience-dependent. Our results suggest a specialist role for the left ACx, focused on facilitating the detection of specific vocalization features, while the right ACx is a generalist with the ability to integrate spectrotemporal features more broadly.
Highlights
The left hemisphere’s dominance in processing social communication has been known for over a century, but the mechanisms underlying this lateralized cortical function are poorly understood
Our results suggest that intracortical mechanisms in superficial layers of the left and right auditory cortex (ACx) are directly engaged in the division of labor in auditory processing
Using 3D volume imaging of Fos expression, we found a significant difference in activation between the left and right ACx in response to mouse vocalizations and sweeps
Summary
The left hemisphere’s dominance in processing social communication has been known for over a century, but the mechanisms underlying this lateralized cortical function are poorly understood. We compare the structure, function, and development of each auditory cortex (ACx) in the mouse to look for specializations that may underlie lateralization. We compared the synaptic connectivity within each hemisphere and discovered lateralized circuit-motifs that are hearing experience-dependent. Each hemisphere may specialize in processing different spectrotemporal features of sounds, but the mechanisms remain unresolved. We report lateralized activation of the left ACx and right ACx when mouse vocalizations and frequency sweeps are presented during passive listening. To dissect the mechanisms underlying lateralized auditory processing we compared the spectrotemporal selectivity, synaptic connectivity, axonal projections, development, and experience-dependence of the left and right ACx. We found hemispheric differences from circuits to function that provide a comprehensive framework of the underlying division of labor for processing complex sounds
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