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J Neurophysiol (November 30, 2005). doi:10.1152/jn.00902.2005
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Submitted on August 30, 2005
Accepted on November 29, 2005

NEURONS IN THE MEDIAL NUCLEUS OF THE TRAPEZOID BODY AND SUPERIOR PARAOLIVARY NUCLEUS OF THE RAT MAY PLAY A ROLE IN SOUND DURATION CODING

Alexander Kadner1, Randy J Kulesza Jr.1, and Albert S Berrebi1*

1 Department of Otolaryngology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, Sensory Neuroscience Research Center, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, WV, USA

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: aberrebi{at}hsc.wvu.edu.

We describe neurons in two nuclei of the superior olivary complex that display differential sensitivities to sound duration. Single units in the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body (MNTB) and superior paraolivary nucleus (SPON) of anesthetized rats were studied. MNTB neurons produced primary-like responses to pure tones and displayed a period of suppressed spontaneous activity after stimulus offset. In contrast, neurons of the SPON, which receive a strong glycinergic input from MNTB, showed very little or no spontaneous activity and responded with short bursts of action potentials after the stimulus offset. Because SPON spikes were restricted to the same time window during which suppressed spontaneous activity occurs in the MNTB, we presume that SPON offset activity represents a form of post-inhibitory rebound. Using characteristic frequency tones of 2-1000 ms duration presented 20 dB above threshold, we demonstrate that the profundity and duration of the suppression of spontaneous activity in MNTB as well as the magnitude and first spike latency of the SPON offset response depend on stimulus duration as well as on stimulus intensity, showing a tradeoff between intensity and duration. Pairwise comparisons of the responses to stimuli of various durations revealed that the duration sensitivity in both nuclei is sharpest for stimuli shorter than 50 ms.




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