Activation of the serotonin 1A receptor alters the temporal characteristics of auditory responses in the inferior colliculus

Serotonin, like other neuromodulators, acts on a range of receptor types, but its effects also depend on the functional characteristics of the neurons responding to receptor activation. In the inferior colliculus (IC), an auditory midbrain nucleus, activation of a common serotonin (5-HT) receptor type, the 5-HT1A receptor, depresses auditory-evoked responses in many neurons. Whether these effects occur differentially in different types of neurons is unknown. In the current study, the effects of iontophoretic application of the 5-HT1A agonist 8-OH-DPAT on auditory responses were compared with the characteristic frequencies (CFs), recording depths, and control first-spike latencies of the same group of IC neurons. The 8-OH-DPAT-evoked change in response significantly correlated with first-spike latency across the population, so that response depressions were more prevalent in longer-latency neurons. The 8-OH-DPAT-evoked change in response did not correlate with CF or with recording depth. 8-OH-DPAT also altered the temporal characteristics of spike trains in a subset of neurons that fired multiple spikes in response to brief stimuli. For these neurons, activation of the 5-HT1A receptor suppressed lagging spikes proportionally more than initial spikes. These results suggest that the 5-HT1A receptor, by affecting the timing of the responses of both individual neurons and the neuron population, shifts the temporal profile of evoked activity within the IC.