Temporal firing patterns of single units, pairs and triplets of units in the auditory cortex.
The spontaneous and acoustically driven activities of single units, pairs and triplets of units in the auditory cortex were analyzed. Data were obtained in two sets of experiments from nonbehaving awake cats and from a behaving monkey. The results of the two sets of experiments indicated that neighboring neurons usually fire independently. The weak correlations found between pairs of adjacent neurons were mostly indicative of a common input driving both units. In some cases, signs of synaptic interaction between the neurons were found. When triplets of units were considered, it was found that several independent inputs exist, even within a small group of adjacent neurons. When such small groups of neurons were studied in the behaving monkey, it was found that the temporal firing pattern of single neurons and the interactions between pairs of neurons were in some cases dependent on the behavioral state and on the sensorimotor association.
D000818:Animals; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D002415:Cats; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D000882:Haplorhini; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology; D014851:Wakefulness / Q000502:physiology