Auditory perception vs. recognition: representation of complex communication sounds in the mouse auditory cortical fields

Details of brain areas for acoustical Gestalt perception and the recognition of species-specific vocalizations are not known. Here we show how spectral properties and the recognition of the acoustical Gestalt of wriggling calls of mouse pups based on a temporal property are represented in auditory cortical fields and an association area (dorsal field) of the pups' mothers. We stimulated either with a call model releasing maternal behaviour at a high rate (call recognition) or with two models of low behavioural significance (perception without recognition). Brain activation was quantified using c-Fos immunocytochemistry, counting Fos-positive cells in electrophysiologically mapped auditory cortical fields and the dorsal field. A frequency-specific labelling in two primary auditory fields is related to call perception but not to the discrimination of the biological significance of the call models used. Labelling related to call recognition is present in the second auditory field (All). A left hemisphere advantage of labelling in the dorsoposterior field seems to reflect an integration of call recognition with maternal responsiveness. The dorsal field is activated only in the left hemisphere. The spatial extent of Fos-positive cells within the auditory cortex and its fields is larger in the left than in the right hemisphere. Our data show that a left hemisphere advantage in processing of a species-specific vocalization up to recognition is present in mice. The differential representation of vocalizations of high vs. low biological significance, as seen only in higher-order and not in primary fields of the auditory cortex, is discussed in the context of perceptual strategies.