Data from: Thalamic reticular neurons provide cell type-specific modulation of sound processing in the auditory thalamus

Inhibition along the auditory pathway is crucial for the processing of
acoustic information. Within the auditory thalamus, a key region in the
central auditory pathway, inhibition is provided by the thalamic reticular
nucleus (TRN), comprised of two large classes of inhibitory neurons,
parvalbumin (PVTRN) and somatostatin (SSTTRN) positive.  In the
auditory cortex, PV and SST neurons differentially shape auditory
processing. We found that the ventral MGB, the thalamic region in the
direct ascending auditory pathway, receives inputs predominantly from
PVTRN neurons, whereas SSTTRN neurons project to the dorso-medial regions
of MGB. Consistently, inactivating PVTRN neurons increased sound-evoked
activity in over a third of neurons in the vMGB, with another large
fraction of neurons being suppressed. By contrast, inactivating SSTTRN
neuronal activity largely reduced tone-evoked activity in vMGB neurons.
Cell type-specific computational models revealed candidate circuit
mechanisms for generating the bidirectional effects of TRN inactivation on
MGB sound responses.  These differential inhibitory pathways
within the auditory thalamus suggest a cell-specific role for thalamic
inhibition in auditory computation and behavior.