Sensitivities of cells in anteroventral cochlear nucleus of cat to spatiotemporal discharge patterns across primary afferents

1990 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 437-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. H. Carney
Keyword(s):  
Phase Shift ◽  
Cochlear Nucleus ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Phase Spectrum ◽  
Posterior Region ◽  
Anteroventral Cochlear Nucleus ◽  
Complex Stimuli ◽  
A Cell ◽  
Discharge Patterns ◽  
Phase Spectra

1. This study tested the hypothesis that a cell in the anteroventral cochlear nucleus (AVCN) that receives convergent input from auditory nerve (AN) fibers can be sensitive to the temporal pattern of discharges on the set of AN fibers providing its input. 2. The temporal discharge pattern across the population of low-frequency AN fibers was manipulated by varying the phase spectra of complex stimuli that had fixed, flat magnitude spectra. By introducing a phase shift with variable slope at a particular frequency, the relative times of discharge of phase-locked neurons with different characteristic frequencies (CFs) could be varied. In this manner the overall spatiotemporal discharge pattern across the array of AN fibers was systematically manipulated. 3. Some low-frequency cells in the AVCN were sensitive to changes in the slope of the phase transition of the complex stimulus. The cells that were sensitive came from several different cell types in the AVCN. Their responses were consistent with the hypothesis that these cells were sensitive to the temporal relationships between discharges on their primary inputs and that they received inputs with different CFs, because the phase shifts introduced relative time differences between different frequencies. 4. Other cells were not sensitive to the degree of phase shift of the stimulus. This insensitivity implied either that these cells received inputs of the same, or nearly the same, CF, or that they were not sensitive to the time differences introduced by these changes in the phase spectra, or both. 5. The cells that were sensitive to the manipulations of the phase spectrum were located in the posterior region of anterior AVCN and in the posterior region of AVCN and thus were presumably either globular bushy, small spherical bushy, or stellate cells. No sensitive cells were located in the most anterior region of the AVCN, where large spherical bushy cells are located. 6. Temporal discharge patterns across the AN population in response to complex stimuli change as a function of level. Accordingly, the sensitivity of neurons to changes in the phase transitions of the complex stimuli used in this study was often affected by the level of the stimulus. 7. The sensitivity to changes in the phase spectrum was a frequency-specific effect. That is, a cell was most sensitive to changes made in phase that were centered near its CF and less sensitive to changes in phase that were introduced at frequencies below or above CF.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Modelling the sensitivity of cells in the anteroventral cochlear nucleus to spatiotemporal discharge patterns

1992 ◽  
Vol 336 (1278) ◽  
pp. 403-406 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Nucleus ◽  
Auditory Nerve ◽  
Cross Correlation ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Phase Spectrum ◽  
Coincidence Detection ◽  
Potential Mechanism ◽  
Complex Sounds ◽  
Anteroventral Cochlear Nucleus ◽  
Discharge Patterns

This study investigates a potential mechanism for the processing of acoustic information that is encoded in the spatiotemporal discharge patterns of auditory nerve (AN) fibres. Recent physiological evidence has demonstrated that some low-frequency cells in the anteroventral cochlear nucleus (AVCN) are sensitive to manipulations of the phase spectrum of complex sounds (Carney 1990 b ). These manipulations result in systematic changes in the spatiotemporal discharge patterns across groups of low-frequency an fibres having different characteristic frequencies (CFS). One interpretation of these results is that these neurons in the AVCN receive convergent inputs from AN fibres with different CFS, and that the cells perform a coincidence detection or cross-correlation upon their inputs. This report presents a model that was developed to test this interpretation.

True and apparent spectra of buried polarizable targets

Geophysics ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Guptasarma
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Modeling ◽  
Phase Shift ◽  
Host Rock ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Phase Spectrum ◽  
Complex Frequency ◽  
Minimum Phase ◽  
Dilution Factor ◽  
Shift Type ◽  
Phase Spectra

If the chargeability of a buried target is not infinitesimal, the popularly used low chargeability approximation formulated by Seigel (1959) can produce large errors in the computation of apparent polarizability spectra. A more accurate alternative approximation, based on a complex, frequency dependent “dilution factor” is presented. It turns out that for dispersions of the minimum phase shift type this approximation can be somewhat simplified and that for targets with such a dispersion, buried in a nondispersive host rock, the apparent log‐phase spectrum is only slightly different from a vertically shifted version of the true phase spectrum of the target. These results should be useful for the computation of apparent polarizabilities in numerical modeling for IP, and in attempts for mineral discrimination through field measurements of phase spectra.

Signs of functional maturation of peripheral auditory system in discharge patterns of neurons in anteroventral cochlear nucleus of kitten

1978 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 1557-1559 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. Brugge ◽  
E. Javel ◽  
L. M. Kitzes
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Nucleus ◽  
Auditory Nerve ◽  
Discharge Rate ◽  
Phase Locking ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Extended Phase ◽  
Anteroventral Cochlear Nucleus ◽  
Peripheral Auditory System ◽  
Different Response

1. Responses to pure tones were recorded from single neurons in the anteroventral cochlear nucleus (AVCN) in kittens ranging in age from 4 to 45 days. Different response properties mature at different times after birth. 2. The shapes of response areas of AVCN neurons after the 1st postnatal week resemble those recorded in the AVCN and auditory nerve of the adult. During the 1st wk after birth the high-frequency portion of the response area is extended. Phase-locked responses to stimulus frequencies below about 600 Hz occur at this time. Phase vs. frequency measurements and shapes of response areas indicate that by the end of the 1st postnatal week the cochlear partition may be capable of supporting a traveling wave along most of its length. 3. Functional development proceeds through a second phase which lasts until the end of the 2nd or the beginning of the 3rd wk of life. During that time threshold, maximal discharge rate, and average first-spike latency achieve adult values. 4. Phase-locking to low-frequency tones, to the extent displayed by phase-sensitive neurons in the adult AVCN or auditory nerve, is achieved last, after the 3rd or 4th wk postpartum.

Classification of unit types in the anteroventral cochlear nucleus: PST histograms and regularity analysis

1989 ◽  
Vol 62 (6) ◽  
pp. 1303-1329 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. C. Blackburn ◽  
M. B. Sachs
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Nucleus ◽  
Interspike Interval ◽  
Discharge Rate ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Initial Response ◽  
Instantaneous Rate ◽  
Anteroventral Cochlear Nucleus ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Spike Latency

1. The responses of neurons in the anteroventral cochlear nucleus (AVCN) of barbiturate-anesthetized cats are characterized with regard to features of their responses to short tone bursts (STBs; 25 ms). A "decision tree" is presented to partition AVCN units on the basis of post-stimulus time histogram (PSTH) shape, first spike latency, and discharge rate and regularity calculated as functions of time during responses to STBs. The major classes of AVCN units (primary-like, primary-like-with-notch, chopper, and onset) have been described previously; in this paper, special attention is given to clarifying and systematizing boundaries between classes. Certain types of "unusual" units that may be confused with units in one of the major classes are also examined. 2. When STBs are presented synchronously (constant phase at onset), PSTHs of responses to very-low-frequency (less than 1.0 kHz) tones are difficult if not impossible to resolve into the classes listed above because all unit types phase-lock to low-frequency tones. However, when STBs are presented asynchronously, the responses of units with low best frequencies can be categorized on the basis of PSTH shape and first spike latency. 3. Primary-like, primary-like-with-notch, and onset units are distinguished primarily on the basis of PSTH shape. These three unit types have comparable minimum first spke latencies and synchronization to tones. One type of "unusual" response poses a particular hazard with respect to the generation of uncontaminated primary-like populations. Such "unusual" units have PSTHs that appear primary-like; these units are, however, distinguished by their unusually long first spike latencies. Unlike primary-like units, these "unusual" units show extremely poor synchronization to tones. 4. Chopper units are defined as having an initial response that is highly regular, resulting in the characteristic multimodal PSTH. "Unusual" units with multimodal PSTHs but whose initial responses are not highly regular (measured by the reproducibility of the initial firing pattern in response to multiple repetitions of a STB) are eliminated from the chopper populations. 5. In barbiturate-anesthetized cats, at least three patterns of chopper response can be distinguished on the basis of temporal patterns of rate and regularity adaptation. "Sustained" choppers show no adaptation of instantaneous rate (measured by the inverse of the mean interspike interval), and their discharge remains highly regular throughout the response. "Transiently adapting" choppers undergo a very rapid (less than 10 ms) decrease in instantaneous rate accompanied by a sharp increase in discharge irregularity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

The representations of the steady-state vowel sound /e/ in the discharge patterns of cat anteroventral cochlear nucleus neurons

1990 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
pp. 1191-1212 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. C. Blackburn ◽  
M. B. Sachs
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Cochlear Nucleus ◽  
Nerve Fibers ◽  
Stimulus Level ◽  
Complex Stimulus ◽  
Vowel Sound ◽  
Stimulus Representation ◽  
Anteroventral Cochlear Nucleus ◽  
Discharge Patterns ◽  
Bushy Cells

1. We have recorded the responses of neurons in the anteroventral cochlear nucleus (AVCN) of barbiturate-anesthetized cats to the synthetic, steady-state-vowel sound /e/, presented over a range of stimulus intensities. 2. The responses of (putative) spherical bushy cells [primary-like (Pri) units] to the vowel resemble those of auditory-nerve fibers (ANFs) in terms of both rate and temporal encoding at low and moderate stimulus levels. It was not possible to study the responses of most Pri units at the highest stimulus level because of the large neurophonic component present in recordings from most primarylike units at higher stimulus levels. 3. The responses of many (putative) globular bushy cells [primarylike with notch (PN) units] to the vowel resemble those of ANFs; however, there appears to be greater heterogeneity in the responses of units in the PN population than in the Pri population in terms of both temporal and rate encoding. 4. Populations of stellate cells (chopper units) have degraded representations of the temporal information in ANF population discharge patterns in response to the vowel; this is consistent with the responses of these units to pure tones. Both regular (ChS) and irregular (ChT) chopper subpopulations, however, maintain better rate-place representations of the vowel spectrum than does the population of ANFs as a whole. The rate-place representations of the vowel spectrum by both chopper populations closely resemble those of low and medium spontaneous rate ANFs at most stimulus levels. 5. The data presented in this paper suggest that a functional partition of the AVCN chopper population could yield two distinct rate representations in response to a complex stimulus: one that is graded with stimulus level (over a 30 to 40 dB range) and that, even at rate saturation, maintains a "low contrast" stimulus representation; and a second that maintains a robust, "high contrast" stimulus representation at all levels but that confers less information about stimulus level.

Enhancement of neural synchronization in the anteroventral cochlear nucleus. II. Responses in the tuning curve tail

1994 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 1037-1051 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. X. Joris ◽  
P. H. Smith ◽  
T. C. Yin
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Nucleus ◽  
Tuning Curve ◽  
Phase Locking ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Companion Paper ◽  
Acoustic Stimuli ◽  
Anteroventral Cochlear Nucleus ◽  
Temporal Features ◽  
Peripheral Auditory System ◽  
Trapezoid Body

1. Discharges of neurons in the peripheral auditory system contain information about the temporal features of acoustic stimuli. Phase-locking of neurons in the anteroventral cochlear nucleus (AVCN) is usually reported to be less robust than in auditory nerve (AN) fibers, which provide their major input. In a companion paper we reported that some cells in AVCN of the cat show enhanced phase-locking compared with the AN when stimulated at the frequency to which they are most sensitive [characteristic frequency (CF)]. We called neurons "high-sync" when they showed vector strengths (R, a measure of phase-locking) > or = 0.9. Here we report phase-locking properties to stimuli at frequencies below CF. 2. Horseradish peroxidase-filled glass micropipettes or metal microelectrodes were inserted into the trapezoid body (TB), which is the large output tract of the AVCN. Acoustically driven fibers were classified on the basis of the shape of the poststimulus time (PST) histograms to short tone bursts at CF. We then presented low-frequency tones of increasing SPL and determined the maximum R value at 500 Hz (R500) for each fiber. Using the same experimental protocol we studied phase-locking in the ANs of two animals because maximal R values at the tuning curve tail have not been reported for AN fibers. 3. Although phase-locking in AN fibers is usually assumed to be independent of CF, we found that fibers with CF > 2 kHz tended to have higher R500 values than fibers with CF < or = 2 kHz. Moreover, R500 was > or = 0.9 in 20% (42 of 196) of the fibers studied and could be as high as 0.95. This population of fibers was defined as having "high-sync tails" and consisted almost entirely of fibers with low or medium spontaneous rate. 4. High-CF TB fibers stimulated at 500 Hz showed very high phase-locking. High-sync tails (R500 > or = 0.9) were found in 41 of 70 TB fibers. For a subset of these fibers (1/3 in total: 23 of 70) phase-locking was higher than is ever observed in the AN (R500 > or = 0.95); these fibers were defined as showing synchronization "enhancement." Virtually all fibers showing synchronization enhancement had primary-like-with-notch (PLN) PST histograms. Chopper and primary-like fibers showed high-sync tails for CFs > 3 kHz. 5. Synchronization filter functions were obtained for high-CF AN fibers by determining maximum synchronization for a range of stimuli below CF.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Responses of Cochlear Nucleus Units in the Chinchilla to Iterated Rippled Noises: Analysis of Neural Autocorrelograms

1999 ◽  
Vol 81 (6) ◽  
pp. 2662-2674 ◽  
Author(s):  
William P. Shofner
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Nucleus ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
Time Lags ◽  
Complex Sounds ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Complex Stimuli ◽  
Temporal Encoding ◽  
Cochlear Nucleus Units ◽  
Stimulus Features ◽  
Discharge Patterns

Responses of cochlear nucleus units in the chinchilla to iterated rippled noises: analysis of neural autocorrelograms. Temporal encoding of stimulus features related to the pitch of iterated rippled noises was studied for single units in the chinchilla cochlear nucleus. Unlike other periodic complex sounds that produce pitch, iterated rippled noises have neither periodic waveforms nor highly modulated envelopes. Infinitely iterated rippled noise (IIRN) is generated when wideband noise (WBN) is delayed (τ), attenuated, and then added to (+) or subtracted from (−) the undelayed WBN through positive feedback. The pitch of IIRN[+, τ, −1 dB] is at 1/τ, whereas the pitch of IIRN[−, τ, −1 dB] is at 1/2τ. Temporal responses of cochlear nucleus units were measured using neural autocorrelograms. Synchronous responses as shown by peaks in neural autocorrelograms that occur at time lags corresponding to the IIRN τ can be observed for both primarylike and chopper unit types. Comparison of the neural autocorrelograms in response to IIRN[+, τ, −1 dB] and IIRN[−, τ, −1 dB] indicates that the temporal discharge of primarylike units reflects the stimulus waveform fine structure, whereas the temporal discharge patterns of chopper units reflect the stimulus envelope. The pitch of IIRN[±, τ, −1 dB] can be accounted for by the temporal discharge patterns of primarylike units but not by the temporal discharge of chopper units. To quantify the temporal responses, the height of the peak in the neural autocorrelogram at a given time lag was measured as normalized rate. Although it is well documented that chopper units give larger synchronous responses than primarylike units to the fundamental frequency of periodic complex stimuli, the largest normalized rates in response to IIRN[+, τ, −1 dB] were obtained for primarylike units, not chopper units. The results suggest that if temporal encoding is important in pitch processing, then primarylike units are likely to be an important cochlear nucleus subsystem that carries the pitch-related information to higher auditory centers.

Enhancement of neural synchronization in the anteroventral cochlear nucleus. I. Responses to tones at the characteristic frequency

1994 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 1022-1036 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. X. Joris ◽  
L. H. Carney ◽  
P. H. Smith ◽  
T. C. Yin
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Nucleus ◽  
Characteristic Frequency ◽  
Phase Locking ◽  
Stimulus Frequency ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Recording Equipment ◽  
Discharge Rates ◽  
Bushy Cell ◽  
Anteroventral Cochlear Nucleus ◽  
Temporal Features

1. Encoding temporal features of the acoustic waveform is an important attribute of the auditory system. Auditory nerve (AN) fibers synchronize or phase-lock to low-frequency tones and transmit this temporal information to cells in the anteroventral cochlear nucleus (AVCN). Phase-locking in the AVCN is usually reported to be similar to or weaker than in the AN. We studied phase-locking in axons of the trapezoid body (TB), which is the output tract of the AVCN, and found, to our surprise, that most TB axons exhibited enhanced synchronization compared with AN fibers. 2. Responses from axons in the TB of the cat were obtained with horseradish peroxidase (HRP)- or Neurobiotin-filled micropipettes or metal microelectrodes. A series of short tone bursts at increasing sound pressure level (SPL) was presented at the characteristic frequency (CF) of the fiber and phase-locking was quantified with the vector strength R at each SPL. For each fiber the maximum R value (Rmax) was then determined. 3. Low-frequency fibers in the TB showed very precise phase-locking: Rmax values could approach 0.99. For the majority of fibers (33/44, 75%) with CF < 700 Hz, Rmax was > or = 0.9 and therefore higher than is ever observed in the AN. We define such fibers as "high-sync." Most of these fibers also entrained to the stimulus, i.e., they fired a precisely timed action potential to almost every stimulus cycle. Some fibers showed perfect entrainment, with maximum discharge rates equaling the stimulus frequency. 4. To exclude the possibility that stimulus paradigms or acoustic and recording equipment were the source of this enhancement, we obtained additional data on low-frequency AN fibers using the same experimental protocol as in our TB experiments. These AN data agree well with published reports. 5. The morphological class of some of the cells studied was identified on the basis of anatomic features revealed by intra-axonal injection of HRP or Neurobiotin. Labeled low-CF axons (N = 7), which were all high-sync, originated from AVCN bushy cells: five were globular and two were spherical bushy cell axons. 6. Spontaneous rate of high-sync fibers covered a range from 0 to 176 spikes/s but were biased toward low values (mean 16 spikes/s). Responses to broadband clicks and sinusoidally amplitude-modulated signals provided additional evidence of improved timing properties.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

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