Spectrotemporal Dynamics of Neural Responses in Auditory Cortex During Frequency Discrimination
Year: 2009
Type: article
Abstract: Small differences in the frequencies of a sound provide a significant amount of information about the identity, position, and motion of the source. Humans' auditory frequency discrimination ability also allows us to understand the subtle modulations that comprise spoken language. It should not be surprising, then, that deficits in auditory frequency discrimination ability have been often implicated in various language learning disorders. Understanding the neural basis for such deficits is difficult because the processes underlying auditory frequency discrimination haven't been fully identified. Recent evidence suggests that primary auditory cortex may be the ultimate arbiter of behavioral frequency resolution, but the frequency- and intensity-dependent properties of phasic-type responses most often seen in primary auditory cortex neurons do not correspond well with psychophysical trends. Tonic-type response components that occur after the phasic component in primary auditory cortex neurons may display frequency-selectivity more consistent with observed psychophysics, but are not yet well characterize in most animals. Studying the contribution of tonic responses to frequency discrimination behavior requires an approach that can examine both neural activity in primary auditory cortex and psychophysics in the same animals.
Author: Sloan, Andrew Michael
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2340381927