The three-dimensional frequency organization of the inferior colliculus of the cat: a 2-deoxyglucose study

The 3-dimensional (3-D) functional organization of the cat's inferior colliculus (IC) was examined using the 2-deoxyglucose method. Animals were dichotically stimulated with pure tone stimuli at an intensity of 80 dB SPL. Autoradiographic sections from these animals, cut in the three standard planes, were serially reconstructed to reveal the 3-D topography of the isofrequency sheets of labelling. In all 3-D reconstructions, the isofrequency sheets extend rostrocaudally through the IC with the rostral aspect of the sheet being situated more ventral than its caudal aspect. In the mediolateral dimension, sheets are angled at between 40° and 60° to the horizontal, running from a dorsomedial to a ventrolateral position. The low-frequency sheets (0.5 and 2 kHz) are dorsolaterally convex and situated in the dorsolateral region of the IC. The 4 and 10 kHz isofrequency sheets have a helical structure and are situated in the mid-region of the IC. The high-frequency sheets (20 and 30 kHz) are dorsolaterally concaved and situated in the ventromedial region of the IC. The topography of these isofrequency sheets generally agree with, and extended our knowledge of, the tonotopic organization of the IC as derived from electrophysiological studies. The functional organization revealed by the 2-deoxyglucose method only partially correlated with the neural laminae in the anatomical models of the IC proposed by Rockel and Jones [J. Comp. Neurol. 147 (1973) 11–60] and Oliver and Morest [J. Comp. Neurol. 222 (1984) 237–264]. It is therefore concluded that the neural laminar organization of the IC may not be a necessary substrate for the tonotopic organization seen the IC.