Integration of Visual Information in Auditory Cortex Promotes Auditory Scene Analysis through Multisensory Binding.

How and where in the brain audio-visual signals are bound to create multimodal objects remains unknown. One hypothesis is that temporal coherence between dynamic multisensory signals provides a mechanism for binding stimulus features across sensory modalities. Here, we report that when the luminance of a visual stimulus is temporally coherent with the amplitude fluctuations of one sound in a mixture, the representation of that sound is enhanced in auditory cortex.

Acute Inactivation of Primary Auditory Cortex Causes a Sound Localisation Deficit in Ferrets.

The objective of this study was to demonstrate the efficacy of acute inactivation of brain areas by cooling in the behaving ferret and to demonstrate that cooling auditory cortex produced a localisation deficit that was specific to auditory stimuli. The effect of cooling on neural activity was measured in anesthetized ferret cortex. The behavioural effect of cooling was determined in a benchmark sound localisation task in which inactivation of primary auditory cortex (A1) is known to impair performance.

Where are multisensory signals combined for perceptual decision-making?

Multisensory integration is observed in many subcortical and cortical locations including primary and non-primary sensory cortex, and higher cortical areas including frontal and parietal cortex. During unisensory perceptual tasks many of these same brain areas show neural signatures associated with decision-making. It is unclear whether multisensory representations in sensory cortex directly inform decision-making in a multisensory task, or if cross-modal signals are only combined after the accumulation of unisensory evidence at a final decision-making stage in higher cortical areas.

Oxycodone and Naloxone Combination: A 12-Week Follow-up in 20 Patients Shows Effective Analgesia Without Opioid-Induced Bowel Dysfunction.

Introduction: Opioid analgesics are widely regarded to be highly effective but are equally known for their side effects on the bowel. A new combination of the opioid analgesic oxycodone and naloxone has been developed to combat opioid-induced bowel dysfunction (OIBD) whilst still being effective as an analgesic. The aim of this observational study was to assess the analgesic efficacy of this new combination and to analyze its effect on bowel function.

Modified protein expression in the tectorial membrane of the cochlea reveals roles for the striated sheet matrix.

The tectorial membrane (TM) of the mammalian cochlea is a complex extracellular matrix which, in response to acoustic stimulation, displaces the hair bundles of outer hair cells (OHCs), thereby initiating sensory transduction and amplification. Here, using TM segments from the basal, high-frequency region of the cochleae of genetically modified mice (including models of human hereditary deafness) with missing or modified TM proteins, we demonstrate that frequency-dependent stiffening is associated with the striated sheet matrix (SSM). Frequency-dependent stiffening largely disappeared in all three TM mutations studied where the SSM was absent either entirely or at least from the stiffest part of the TM overlying the OHCs.

Successful use of stellate ganglion block and a new centrally acting analgesic with dual mode of action in a resistant temporomandibular joint pain.

Stellate ganglion blocks have been shown to provide effective pain relief in a number of different conditions involving the upper body. This was demonstrated in a 65-year-old woman who had experienced severe debilitating pain in her left temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and the surrounding area of her face for over 10 years. The pain was unresponsive to indomethacin, carbamazepine, sodium valproate, gabapentin, lithium, melatonin and amitriptyline.

The vestibular system mediates sensation of low-frequency sounds in mice.

The mammalian inner ear contains sense organs responsible for detecting sound, gravity and linear acceleration, and angular acceleration. Of these organs, the cochlea is involved in hearing, while the sacculus and utriculus serve to detect linear acceleration. Recent evidence from birds and mammals, including humans, has shown that the sacculus, a hearing organ in many lower vertebrates, has retained some of its ancestral acoustic sensitivity.