The cingulate cortex facilitates auditory perception under challenging listening conditions

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Anbuhl, Kelsey L.; Castro, Marielisa Diez; Lee, Nikki A.; Lee, Vivian S.; Sanes, Dan H.
• 署名单位: New York University; Creighton University; New York University; New York University; New York University
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-15290
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2412453122
• 发表日期: 2025-04-01
• 关键词: hearing-loss; critical period; selective attention; task; plasticity; SPEECH; SYSTEM; brain; performance; signature

摘要

We often exert greater cognitive resources (i.e., listening effort) to understand speech under challenging acoustic conditions. This mechanism can be overwhelmed in those with hearing loss, resulting in cognitive fatigue in adults and potentially impeding language acquisition in children. However, the neural mechanisms that support listening effort are uncertain. Evidence from human studies suggests that the cingulate cortex is engaged under difficult listening conditions and may exert top-down modulation of the auditory cortex (AC). Here, we asked whether the gerbil cingulate cortex (Cg) sends anatomical projections to the AC that facilitate perceptual performance. To model challenging listening conditions, we used a sound discrimination task in which stimulus parameters were presented in either Easy or Hard blocks (i.e., long or short stimulus duration, respectively). Gerbils achieved statistically identical psychometric performance in Easy and Hard blocks. Anatomical tracing experiments revealed a strong, descending projection from layer 2/3 of the Cg1 subregion of the cingulate cortex to superficial and deep layers of the primary and dorsal AC. To determine whether Cg improves task performance under challenging conditions, we bilaterally infused muscimol to inactivate Cg1 and found that psychometric thresholds were degraded for only Hard blocks. To test whether the Cg-to-AC projection facilitates task performance, we chemogenetically inactivated these inputs and found that performance was only degraded during Hard blocks. Taken together, the results reveal a descending cortical pathway that facilitates perceptual performance during challenging listening conditions.