Banding of lateral superior olivary nucleus afferents in the inferior colliculus: a possible substrate for sensory integration.

In this study the organization of the projection from the lateral superior olivary nucleus (LSO) to the inferior colliculus was investigated in the cat by using anterograde tract-tracing techniques. The findings indicated that LSO projected bilaterally to the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus as well as to the ventrolateral and rostral pole nuclei. In the central nucleus a larger medial component of the projection ended in pars medialis and centralis. A smaller lateral component ended in the region of the pars lateralis. Both components of the projection appeared to be topographically organized, but in the lateral component the low-frequency part of LSO appeared to have greater representation. The uncrossed and crossed LSO projections to the inferior colliculus exhibited several important differences in their distribution. First, periodic bands of dense labeling were more prominent in the distribution of the uncrossed projection. The bands measured 150-200 micron in thickness and in some cases interruptions or gaps were present along the length of the bands. The distribution of the crossed projection was more diffuse, but some banding was also apparent. Second, the positions of the bands of dense labeling on the two sides were not homotopic as determined by labeling projections from the ipsilateral and contralateral LSO in the same tissue. The dense bands labeled with WGA-HRP from an injection in LSO on one side and bands labeled with 3H-leucine from an injection in LSO on the other side either were interdigitating or were only partially overlapping. Finally, the area over which the uncrossed projection distributed endings varied in size with respect to that of the crossed projection. The variation in size of the area of the projections was a function of the frequency representation. A model based on the three-dimensional reconstruction of bands as projection sheets is proposed as a substrate for selective integration of afferents in the inferior colliculus.