HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 96/5/2451    most recent 00471.2006v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (2) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Gai, Y. Articles by Carney, L. H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Gai, Y. Articles by Carney, L. H.

Temporal Measures and Neural Strategies for Detection of Tones in Noise Based on Responses in Anteroventral Cochlear Nucleus

¹Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering, ²Institute for Sensory Research, and ³Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York

Submitted 3 May 2006; accepted in final form 14 August 2006

To examine possible neural strategies for the detection of tones in broadband noise, single-neuron extracellular recordings were obtained from the anteroventral cochlear nucleus (AVCN) in anesthetized gerbils. Detection thresholds determined by average discharge rate and several temporal metrics were compared with previously reported psychophysical detection thresholds in cats (Costalupes 1985). Because of their limited dynamic range, the average discharge rates of single neurons failed to predict psychophysical detection thresholds for relatively high-level noise at all measured characteristic frequencies (CFs). However, temporal responses changed significantly when a tone was added to a noise, even for neurons with flat masked rate-level functions. Three specific temporal analyses were applied to neural responses to tones in noise. First, temporal reliability, a measure of discharge time consistency across stimulus repetitions, decreased with increasing tone level for most AVCN neurons at all measured CFs. Second, synchronization to the tone frequency, a measure of phase-locking to the tone, increased with tone level for low-CF neurons. Third, rapid fluctuations in the poststimulus time histograms (PSTHs) decreased with tone level for a number of neurons at all CFs. For each of the three temporal measures, some neurons had detection thresholds at or below psychophysical thresholds. A physiological model of a higher-stage auditory neuron that received simple excitatory and inhibitory inputs from AVCN neurons was able to extract the PSTH fluctuation information in a form of decreased rate with tone level.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				Y. Gai and L. H. Carney Influence of Inhibitory Inputs on Rate and Timing of Responses in the Anteroventral Cochlear Nucleus J Neurophysiol, March 1, 2008; 99(3): 1077 - 1095. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				I. Siveke, C. Leibold, and B. Grothe Spectral Composition of Concurrent Noise Affects Neuronal Sensitivity to Interaural Time Differences of Tones in the Dorsal Nucleus of the Lateral Lemniscus J Neurophysiol, November 1, 2007; 98(5): 2705 - 2715. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]