Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42182165›Full record

ArticlebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology2026

Optogenetic circuit mapping reveals connectivity and synaptic physiology of T-stellate projections from the cochlear nucleus to the auditory midbrain.

Yoani N Herrera, Britney M Aguirre, Michael T Roberts

Abstract readPreprint
In one paragraph

Article in bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Yoani N HerreraKresge Hearing Research Institute, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109.ORCID 0000-0002-2819-9459
Britney M AguirreKresge Hearing Research Institute, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109.ORCID 0009-0008-1723-8644
Michael T RobertsKresge Hearing Research Institute, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109.ORCID 0000-0003-2835-8752

Funding

Circuit Mechanisms for Auditory Processing in the Inferior ColliculusR01DC018284 · NIDCD · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI ROBERTS, MICHAEL THOMAS · 2020 to 2024
$2.3M
Increasing URM Diversity: Targeting Transitions in the Neuroscience Education ContinuumR25NS107159 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI ROBERT KEITH DUNCAN, Carol Fuzeti Elias · 2018 to 2026
$2.0M
Influence of T-Stellate Cell Input on Sound Processing in the Inferior ColliculusF31DC021618 · NIDCD · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI Yoani Natalie Herrera · 2023 to 2026
$144k
NIDCD NIH HHS F31 DC021618NIDCD NIH HHS R01 DC018284NINDS NIH HHS R25 NS107159
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

T-stellate neurons in the ventral cochlear nucleus (VCN) receive synaptic input from the cochlear nerve and encode information about sound frequency and intensity, including rapid fluctuations in sound intensity that are important for speech processing. T-stellate neurons are the only neuron class in the VCN that projects directly to the inferior colliculus (IC), the midbrain hub of auditory processing. However, which IC neuron populations receive T-stellate input and how T-stellate input influences IC neuron excitability remain unknown. Using channelrhodopsin-assisted circuit mapping and whole-cell patch clamp recordings in brain slices, we compared the synaptic strength, prevalence, and short-term synaptic plasticity of T-stellate input to two molecularly defined classes of IC neurons: GABAergic neuropeptide Y (NPY) neurons and glutamatergic vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) neurons. Our results revealed that T-stellate neurons provide excitatory input to both NPY and VIP neurons, with T-stellate input to NPY neurons having a higher incident rate, larger magnitude, and faster kinetics than T-stellate input to VIP neurons. In many instances, T-stellate input also recruited feedforward inhibition and feedforward excitation onto NPY and VIP neurons. In addition, T-stellate input to NPY and VIP neurons exhibited short-term synaptic depression that became larger in amplitude at higher stimulation frequencies. These data provide insights on how T-stellate neurons influence individual neuron types and local circuits in the IC, laying a mechanistic foundation for investigating how T-stellate input contributes to frequency tuning, amplitude modulation selectivity, and speech processing in the IC.

Indexed as

auditory systemcochlear nucleuselectrophysiologyinferior colliculusneural circuitsshort-term plasticityT-stellate neurons

Identifiers

PMID42182165
PMCPMC13192640

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.