Summary
Project Summary/Abstract Associative learning is a fundamental cornerstone of behavior and cognition, but the underlying neural mechanisms remain poorly understood. In vertebrates, the inferior colliculus (IC) is a layered, midbrain hub important for sound localization, speech perception, and a potential site of plasticity for associative auditory learning. Indeed, classic studies in avians showed that neurons of the external “shell” IC layers have a substantial capacity for plasticity of auditory space maps. Additionally, early mammalian studies suggested that lesions of the analogous shell I
