Differential encoding of rapid changes in sound amplitude by second-order auditory neurons.
Single-cell recordings from the anesthetized gerbil revealed that neurons in the ventral cochlear nucleus, the most peripheral nucleus of the central auditory system, differentially encode a functionally relevant acoustic feature--amplitude modulation. Onset units show the strongest phase--locked responses to amplitude-modulated sounds, followed in order by chopper, primarylike-with-notch and primarylike units. All these neurons show enhanced responses relative to auditory-nerve fibers which provide their ascending inputs. This enhancement occurs over a 90 dB range of sound levels.
D000818:Animals; D003056:Cochlear Nerve / Q000502:physiology*; D005849:Gerbillinae / Q000502:physiology*; D008144:Loudness Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D010898:Pitch Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D011149:Pons / Q000502:physiology*; D011571:Psychoacoustics