Spectral Hallmark of Auditory-Tactile Interactions in Somatosensory Cortex

ABSTRACT

To synthesize a coherent representation of the external world from diverse sensory information, the brain must integrate inputs across stimulus modalities. Yet the mechanistic basis of this computation at the level of neuronal populations remains obscure. Here, we investigate tactile-auditory integration in the mouse somatosensory cortex using two-photon Ca²⁺ imaging. Pairing sound with whisker stimulation modulates tactile responses in both S1 and S2, with the most prominent modulation being robust inhibition of responses in S2. The degree of inhibition depends on tactile stimulation frequency, with lower frequency responses the most severely attenuated. Alongside these neurons, we identify sound-selective neurons in S2 whose responses are inhibited by high tactile frequencies. These results are consistent with a hypothesized local mutually-inhibitory S2 circuit that spectrally selects tactile versus auditory inputs. Our findings enrich mechanistic understanding of multisensory integration and suggest a key role for S2 in combining auditory and tactile information.