scholarly journals Envelope contributions to the representation of interaural time difference in the forebrain of barn owls

2017 ◽  
Vol 118 (3) ◽  
pp. 1871-1887
Author(s):  
Philipp Tellers ◽  
Jessica Lehmann ◽  
Hartmut Führ ◽  
Hermann Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Sound Localization ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Interaural Time Difference ◽  
Barn Owl ◽  
Time Difference ◽  
General Interest ◽  
Frequency Limit ◽  
Barn Owls ◽  
Hearing Range ◽  
First Time

Birds and mammals use the interaural time difference (ITD) for azimuthal sound localization. While barn owls can use the ITD of the stimulus carrier frequency over nearly their entire hearing range, mammals have to utilize the ITD of the stimulus envelope to extend the upper frequency limit of ITD-based sound localization. ITD is computed and processed in a dedicated neural circuit that consists of two pathways. In the barn owl, ITD representation is more complex in the forebrain than in the midbrain pathway because of the combination of two inputs that represent different ITDs. We speculated that one of the two inputs includes an envelope contribution. To estimate the envelope contribution, we recorded ITD response functions for correlated and anticorrelated noise stimuli in the barn owl’s auditory arcopallium. Our findings indicate that barn owls, like mammals, represent both carrier and envelope ITDs of overlapping frequency ranges, supporting the hypothesis that carrier and envelope ITD-based localization are complementary beyond a mere extension of the upper frequency limit. NEW & NOTEWORTHY The results presented in this study show for the first time that the barn owl is able to extract and represent the interaural time difference (ITD) information conveyed by the envelope of a broadband acoustic signal. Like mammals, the barn owl extracts the ITD of the envelope and the carrier of a signal from the same frequency range. These results are of general interest, since they reinforce a trend found in neural signal processing across different species.

scholarly journals Variability Reduction in Interaural Time Difference Tuning in the Barn Owl

2008 ◽  
Vol 100 (2) ◽  
pp. 708-715 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian J. Fischer ◽  
Masakazu Konishi
Keyword(s):  
Anterior Part ◽  
Interaural Time Difference ◽  
Barn Owl ◽  
Time Difference ◽  
Central Nucleus ◽  
Nucleus Laminaris ◽  
Cochlear Nuclei ◽  
Reduction Property ◽  
Single Burst ◽  
Barn Owls

The interaural time difference (ITD) is the primary auditory cue used by the barn owl for localization in the horizontal direction. ITD is initially computed by circuits consisting of axonal delay lines from one of the cochlear nuclei and coincidence detector neurons in the nucleus laminaris (NL). NL projects directly to the anterior part of the dorsal lateral lemniscal nucleus (LLDa), and this area projects to the core of the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (ICcc) in the midbrain. To show the selectivity of an NL neuron for ITD requires averaging of responses over several stimulus presentations for each ITD. In contrast, ICcc neurons detect their preferred ITD in a single burst of stimulus. We recorded extracellularly the responses of LLDa neurons to ITD in anesthetized barn owls and show that this ability is already present in LLDa, raising the possibility that ICcc inherits its noise reduction property from LLDa.

Tuning to Interaural Time Difference and Frequency Differs Between the Auditory Arcopallium and the External Nucleus of the Inferior Colliculus

2009 ◽  
Vol 101 (5) ◽  
pp. 2348-2361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrin Vonderschen ◽  
Hermann Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Inferior Colliculus ◽  
Tuning Curve ◽  
Interaural Time Difference ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Steep Slope ◽  
Time Difference ◽  
Interaural Time Differences ◽  
Tuning Curves ◽  
Barn Owls ◽  
Zero Time

Barn owls process sound-localization information in two parallel pathways, the midbrain and the forebrain pathway. Exctracellular recordings of neural responses to auditory stimuli from far advanced stations of these pathways, the auditory arcopallium in the forebrain and the external nucleus of the inferior colliculus in the midbrain, demonstrated that the representations of interaural time difference and frequency in the forebrain pathway differ from those in the midbrain pathway. Specifically, low-frequency representation was conserved in the forebrain pathway, while it was lost in the midbrain pathway. Variation of interaural time difference yielded symmetrical tuning curves in the midbrain pathway. By contrast, the typical forebrain-tuning curve was asymmetric with a steep slope crossing zero time difference and a less-steep slope toward larger contralateral time disparities. Low sound frequencies contributed sensitivity to contralateral leading sounds underlying these asymmetries, whereas high frequencies enhanced the steepness of slopes at small interaural time differences. Furthermore, the peaks of time-disparity tuning curves were wider in the forebrain than in the midbrain. The distribution of the steepest slopes of best interaural time differences in the auditory arcopallium, but not in the external nucleus of the inferior colliculus, was centered at zero time difference. The distribution observed in the auditory arocpallium is reminiscent of the situation observed in small mammals. We speculate that the forebrain representation may serve as a population code supporting fine discrimination of central interaural time differences and coarse indication of laterality of a stimulus for large interaural time differences.

scholarly journals Diverse processing underlying frequency integration in midbrain neurons of barn owls

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
pp. e1009569
Author(s):  
Julia C. Gorman ◽  
Oliver L. Tufte ◽  
Anna V. R. Miller ◽  
William M. DeBello ◽  
José L. Peña ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sound Localization ◽  
Frequency Tuning ◽  
Interaural Time Difference ◽  
Sound Sources ◽  
Dendritic Trees ◽  
Midbrain Neurons ◽  
Dendritic Processing ◽  
Barn Owls ◽  
Nonlinear Integration

Emergent response properties of sensory neurons depend on circuit connectivity and somatodendritic processing. Neurons of the barn owl’s external nucleus of the inferior colliculus (ICx) display emergence of spatial selectivity. These neurons use interaural time difference (ITD) as a cue for the horizontal direction of sound sources. ITD is detected by upstream brainstem neurons with narrow frequency tuning, resulting in spatially ambiguous responses. This spatial ambiguity is resolved by ICx neurons integrating inputs over frequency, a relevant processing in sound localization across species. Previous models have predicted that ICx neurons function as point neurons that linearly integrate inputs across frequency. However, the complex dendritic trees and spines of ICx neurons raises the question of whether this prediction is accurate. Data from in vivo intracellular recordings of ICx neurons were used to address this question. Results revealed diverse frequency integration properties, where some ICx neurons showed responses consistent with the point neuron hypothesis and others with nonlinear dendritic integration. Modeling showed that varied connectivity patterns and forms of dendritic processing may underlie observed ICx neurons’ frequency integration processing. These results corroborate the ability of neurons with complex dendritic trees to implement diverse linear and nonlinear integration of synaptic inputs, of relevance for adaptive coding and learning, and supporting a fundamental mechanism in sound localization.

scholarly journals A Silicon Model Of Auditory Localization

1989 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Lazzaro ◽  
Carver A. Mead
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Integrated Circuit ◽  
Continuous Time ◽  
Interaural Time Difference ◽  
Barn Owl ◽  
Auditory Localization ◽  
Time Difference ◽  
Time Processing ◽  
Timing Information ◽  
Time Coding

The barn owl accurately localizes sounds in the azimuthal plane, using interaural time difference as a cue. The time-coding pathway in the owl's brainstem encodes a neural map of azimuth, by processing interaural timing information. We have built a silicon model of the time-coding pathway of the owl. The integrated circuit models the structure as well as the function of the pathway; most subcircuits in the chip have an anatomical correlate. The chip computes all outputs in real time, using analog, continuous-time processing.

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