Information Processing of Complex Sounds in the Anteroventral Cochlear Nucleus
Abstract
Experiments currently in progress are designed to quantify the information in the average firing rates of cochlear nucleus neurons. Single unit responses to best frequency tone bursts are recorded, and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves are generated from empirical spike count distributions. In order to quantify the amount of information present for an increase in discharge rate, the area under the ROC curve, P(A), is computed. For a given difference in the means of two spike count distributions regular units (such as choppers) typically give larger P(A) values than do some irregular units (such as choppers) typically give larger P(A) values than do some irregular units (primary-like or transient chopper units). These results suggest that rate information may be enhanced in certain subsystems of the cochlear nucleus. Single unit recording experiments will be carried out in the cochlear nucleus to establish whether a rate-place representation of tones and tones in noise are preserved by the chopper units (stellate cells) of the AVCN. To obtain an objective measure of how much information is present in the average discharge rate, techniques derived from Signal Detection Theory are applied to empirical spike count distributions obtained. The overall objective was to describe the temporal and rate information present in the auditory nerve, and then investigate how the primary-like units (bushy cells) and chopper units (stellate cells) preserved or degrade the temporal and rate information.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1988
- Accession Number
- ADA198576
Entities
People
- William P. Shofner
Organizations
- Loyola University Chicago