Depth-Dependent Temporal Response Properties in Core Auditory Cortex

The computational role of cortical layers within auditory cortex has proven difficult to establish. One hypothesis is that interlaminar cortical processing might be dedicated to analyzing temporal properties of sounds; if so, then there should be systematic depth-dependent changes in cortical sensitivity to the temporal context in which a stimulus occurs. We recorded neural responses simultaneously across cortical depth in primary auditory cortex and anterior auditory field of CBA/Ca mice, and found systematic depth dependencies in responses to second-and-later noise bursts in slow (1–10 bursts/s) trains of noise bursts. At all depths, responses to noise bursts within a train usually decreased with increasing train rate; however, the rolloff with increasing train rate occurred at faster rates in more superficial layers. Moreover, in some recordings from mid-to-superficial layers, responses to noise bursts within a 3–4 bursts/s train were stronger than responses to noise bursts in slower trains. This non-monotonicity with train rate was especially pronounced in more superficial layers of the anterior auditory field, where responses to noise bursts within the context of a slow train were sometimes even stronger than responses to the noise burst at train onset. These findings may reflect depth dependence in suppression and recovery of cortical activity following a stimulus, which we suggest could arise from laminar differences in synaptic depression at feedforward and recurrent synapses.