Single-neuron responses to rapidly presented temporal sequences in the primary auditory cortex of the awake macaque monkey. Phan, M. L. & Recanzone, G. H. J Neurophysiol, 97(2):1726-37, 2007.
doi  abstract   bibtex   
One fundamental process of the auditory system is to process rapidly occurring acoustic stimuli, which are fundamental components of complex stimuli such as animal vocalizations and human speech. Although the auditory cortex is known to subserve the perception of acoustic temporal events, relatively little is currently understood about how single neurons respond to such stimuli. We recorded the responses of single neurons in the primary auditory cortex of alert monkeys performing an auditory task. The stimuli consisted of four tone pips with equal duration and interpip interval, with the first and last pip of the sequence being near the characteristic frequency of the neuron under study. We manipulated the rate of presentation, the frequency of the middle two tone pips, and the order by which they were presented. Our results indicate that single cortical neurons are ineffective at responding to the individual tone pips of the sequence for pip durations of <12 ms, but did begin to respond synchronously to each pip of the sequence at 18-ms durations. In addition, roughly 40% of the neurons tested were able to discriminate the order that the two middle tone pips were presented in at durations of >/=24 ms. These data place the primate primary auditory cortex at an early processing stage of temporal rate discrimination.
@Article{Phan2007,
  author   = {M. L. Phan and G. H. Recanzone},
  journal  = {J Neurophysiol},
  title    = {Single-neuron responses to rapidly presented temporal sequences in the primary auditory cortex of the awake macaque monkey.},
  year     = {2007},
  number   = {2},
  pages    = {1726-37},
  volume   = {97},
  abstract = {One fundamental process of the auditory system is to process rapidly
	occurring acoustic stimuli, which are fundamental components of complex
	stimuli such as animal vocalizations and human speech. Although the
	auditory cortex is known to subserve the perception of acoustic temporal
	events, relatively little is currently understood about how single
	neurons respond to such stimuli. We recorded the responses of single
	neurons in the primary auditory cortex of alert monkeys performing
	an auditory task. The stimuli consisted of four tone pips with equal
	duration and interpip interval, with the first and last pip of the
	sequence being near the characteristic frequency of the neuron under
	study. We manipulated the rate of presentation, the frequency of
	the middle two tone pips, and the order by which they were presented.
	Our results indicate that single cortical neurons are ineffective
	at responding to the individual tone pips of the sequence for pip
	durations of <12 ms, but did begin to respond synchronously to each
	pip of the sequence at 18-ms durations. In addition, roughly 40\%
	of the neurons tested were able to discriminate the order that the
	two middle tone pips were presented in at durations of >/=24 ms.
	These data place the primate primary auditory cortex at an early
	processing stage of temporal rate discrimination.},
  doi      = {10.1152/jn.00698.2006},
  keywords = {17135478},
}

Downloads: 0