Abstract
Low-frequency cells in the anteroventral cochlear nucleus (AVCN) can
be sensitive to changes in the spatiotemporal pattern of discharges
across their auditory nerve (AN) inputs (). This sensitivity suggests
that these cells may be tuned to particular spatiotemporal patterns,
or features, in the discharge patterns of populations of AN fibers.
To evaluate and characterize this sensitivity, we developed a technique
whereby the physiological responses of AVCN cells to wide-band noise
were analyzed using the simulated response of a population of AN
fibers to the same noise stimulus. By averaging the simulated two-dimensional
spatiotemporal pattern of AN activity that preceded each AVCN discharge,
it was possible to derive a two-dimensional reverse-correlation function
that characterized the spatiotemporal tuning of each AVCN cell. The
derived spatiotemporal tuning pattern represented a feature in the
AN population response that was most likely to precede discharges
of the AVCN cell. To test the spatiotemporal tuning characterizations,
we used these patterns to predict the responses of cells to noise
stimuli statistically independent from the stimuli used to characterize
the cells. This technique provides a general tool for the study of
any neural system that involves the analysis of spatiotemporal input
patterns.
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