A biophysical model for modulation frequency encoding in the cochlear nucleus

Encoding of amplitude modulated (AM) acoustical signals is one of the most compelling tasks for the mammalian auditory system: environmental sounds, after being filtered and transduced by the cochlea, become narrowband AM signals. Despite much experimental work dedicated to the comprehension of audi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of physiology, Paris Paris, 2010-05, Vol.104 (3), p.118-127
Main Authors: Eguia, Manuel C., Garcia, Guadalupe C., Romano, Sebastian A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acoustic Stimulation - methods
Action Potentials - physiology
Animals
Auditory Pathways - physiology
Auditory system
Biophysics
Cochlear Nerve - physiology
Cochlear nucleus
Cochlear Nucleus - cytology
Cochlear Nucleus - physiology
Computational neuroscience
Evoked Potentials, Auditory - physiology
Humans
Models, Neurological
Neural Inhibition - physiology
Neural Networks (Computer)
Neurons - physiology
Sound Localization - physiology
Synapses - physiology
Temporal coding
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Summary:Encoding of amplitude modulated (AM) acoustical signals is one of the most compelling tasks for the mammalian auditory system: environmental sounds, after being filtered and transduced by the cochlea, become narrowband AM signals. Despite much experimental work dedicated to the comprehension of auditory system extraction and encoding of AM information, the neural mechanisms underlying this remarkable feature are far from being understood ( Joris et al., 2004). One of the most accepted theories for this processing is the existence of a periodotopic organization (based on temporal information) across the more studied tonotopic axis ( Frisina et al., 1990b). In this work, we will review some recent advances in the study of the mechanisms involved in neural processing of AM sounds, and propose an integrated model that runs from the external ear, through the cochlea and the auditory nerve, up to a sub-circuit of the cochlear nucleus (the first processing unit in the central auditory system). We will show that varying the amount of inhibition in our model we can obtain a range of best modulation frequencies (BMF) in some principal cells of the cochlear nucleus. This could be a basis for a, synchronicity based, low-level periodotopic organization.
ISSN:0928-4257
1769-7115
DOI:10.1016/j.jphysparis.2009.11.014