Perirhinal cortex relays auditory information to the frontal motor cortices in the rat

Auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) were recorded in the motor cortices (MC) with chronically implanted electrodes in the rat. Some of the AEPs in the MC, namely negative potentials on the surface and positive ones at a depth of 2 mm at latencies of about 50-150 ms, were abolished by limited bilateral lesions of the anterior perirhinal cortex (PERa) which was responsive to auditory stimulus, indicating that the AEPs in the MC were at least partially relayed in the PERa. The auditory response in the MC was prominently enhanced when water was supplied or the medial forebrain bundle was stimulated after auditory stimulus. These results indicate that the MC receives the reward associated auditory information from the PERa.