Neurons in auditory cortex integrate information within a constrained and context-invariant temporal window
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Much remains unknown about the computations that allow animals to flexibly integrate across multiple timescales in natural sounds. One key question is whether multiscale integration is accomplished by diverse populations of neurons, each of which integrates information within a constrained temporal window, or whether individual units effectively integrate across many different temporal scales depending on the information rate. Here, we show that responses from neurons throughout the ferret auditory cortex are nearly completely unaffected by sounds falling beyond a time-limited "integration window." This window varies substantially across cells within the auditory cortex (∼15 to ∼150 ms), increasing substantially from the primary to non-primary auditory cortex across all cortical layers, but is unaffected by the information rate of sound. These results indicate that multiscale computation is predominantly accomplished by diverse and hierarchically organized neural populations, each of which integrates information within a highly constrained temporal window.
Source: Current Biology
Institutions: Inserm, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, Laboratoire des Systèmes Perceptifs, Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives et Computationnelles, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut de la Vision, Sorbonne Université, Oregon Health & Science University, University of Rochester Medicine, University of Rochester
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $7,030
OpenAlex ID: W4416996469