Lateralized Local Circuit Tuning in Female Mouse Auditory Cortex

Pup calls are multi-syllabic vocalizations, with individual whistles or motifs separated by silent periods usually ranging between 100 and 400 msec. While there is considerable variability in acoustics of individual distress calls, the most common inter-stimulus-interval (ISI) for pup calls particularly at early ages is about 150–175 msec. This study examined the circuit basis of left-lateralized tuning to vocalization features with whole-cell recordings in brain slices. Whole-cell recordings were made from layer 2/3 pyramidal cells in brain slices of adult mouse auditory cortex. To assess short-term plasticity of excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) and inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs), voltage-clamp recordings were acquired while a train of 5 pulses was evoked either electrically or optically at ISIs of 50, 150, or 550 msec. Subsequent 5-pulse trains were repeated with intervals of 1 minute in between stimulus presentation to prevent long-term changes from occurring to excitation and inhibition. EPSCs were acquired at −70 mv, while IPSCs were acquired from −40–0 mV. This dataset includes raw electrophysiology data.