The Auditory Striatum in Sensory Gating and Perceptual Decision-Making

The auditory striatum, a caudal sensory-related region of the basal ganglia, has emerged as an important node linking auditory processing to behavioral responses. It integrates bottom-up auditory information conveyed by thalamic and cortical pathways, while top-down cortical signals and neuromodulatory dopamine inputs dynamically shape this integration, positioning the auditory striatum as a flexible interface...

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No actionable change — this is a theoretical review synthesizing neuroscience literature; it does not provide clinical guidance applicable to current audiology practice.

A clearer model of how the auditory striatum links sound processing to gating and decision-making could reshape understanding of conditions like tinnitus, hyperacusis (sound sensitivity), and auditory processing disorders where these circuits may be disrupted.

1. 01Review synthesizes evidence on the auditory striatum as a basal ganglia hub connecting hearing to sensory filtering and perceptual decisions.
2. 02Sensory gating — the brain's ability to suppress repetitive or irrelevant sounds — is a key focus.
3. 03The auditory striatum may play a role in disorders where sound filtering is impaired, such as tinnitus or hyperacusis.
4. 04Published in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, a high-impact integrative neuroscience journal.
5. 05Findings are largely pre-clinical or theoretical and require translation to human audiology contexts.

PMID

42716330

DOI

10.1016/j.neubiorev.2026.106965.

Journal

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

Publication type

review

Evidence level

5

Population

Synthesis of animal and human neuroscience literature on auditory striatum function

Intervention

Narrative/systematic review of auditory striatum studies