# Dynamic processing of sound in auditory cortex

> **NIH NIH R01** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $513,789

## Abstract

Project Summary:
The perception of speech and language requires normal functioning of the auditory cortex
(ACX). How ACX does this critically depends on the coordinated activity of populations of
neurons: both across the cortex and throughout its multi-layered structure. The primary auditory
cortex (A1) plays a key role for sound perception since it represents one of the first cortical
processing stations. Recent results have shown that neural activity of A1 neurons depend not
only on auditory stimuli themselves, but are influenced by the history of sounds, internal state,
and behavioral context of the animal. For example, the selectivity of individual A1 neurons can
rapidly and adaptively be reshaped when an animal is engaged in a behavioral task, or when
listening conditions become more challenging. However, behaviorally relevant information is
encoded in populations of neurons but to date it is not understood how behavioral influences
shape the activity across A1 neural populations, and how the resulting population activity relates
to task performance. Here we determine how sounds are dynamically encoded in diverse cell
populations during behavior and the changing nature of their cellular interactions within and
across A1 layers.
 By using in vivo 2-photon imaging in behaving mice we will determine the functional
responses to complex stimuli in identified large populations of A1 neurons, how these neurons
interact, reconstruct the functional networks present with A1, and shared external influences on
these A1 networks. We then investigate how A1 networks change their responses and
functional interactions during auditory behaviors of varying task difficulty. Thus, we determine
how network changes depend on the identify and the difficulty of a task. Together, these
experiments will reveal how A1 networks are dynamically reconfigured depending on the
behavioral needs of the animal. Our prior work identified a region of the frontal cortex, the
orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), as a source of inputs to A1 that can change A1 receptive fields. We
thus investigate how OFC projections are engaged during auditory behaviors and if
manipulating OFC projections to A1 will alter behavioral performance.
 Our work contributes to the mechanistic understanding of the ability of normal-hearing
listeners to navigate complex or noisy acoustic environments and shift their attention between
different sound sources. Thus, our work contributes to the understanding of diverse conditions
such as tinnitus, aging, dyslexia, central auditory processing disorder (CAPD).

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10358612
- **Project number:** 5R01DC017785-02
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** PATRICK O KANOLD
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $513,789
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-04-01 → 2026-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10358612

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10358612, Dynamic processing of sound in auditory cortex (5R01DC017785-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10358612. Licensed CC0.

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