HST.723J / 9.285J Neural Coding and Perception of Sound
Neural structures and mechanisms mediating the detection, localization, and recognition of sounds. Discussion of how acoustic signals are coded by auditory neurons, the impact of these codes on behavorial performance, and the circuitry and cellular mechanisms underlying signal transformations. Topics include temporal coding, neural maps and feature detectors, learning and plasticity, and feedback control. General principles are conveyed by theme discussions of auditory masking, sound localization, musical pitch, speech coding, and cochlear implants, and auditory scene analysis.

Instructors: B. Delgutte, A. Oxenham, M. C. Brown, J. J. Guinan, J. Melcher


Theme 1: Masking and Frequency Selectivity

Sample report

Cai Y and Geisler CD (1996). Suppression in auditory-nerve fibers of cats using low-side suppressors. III. Model results. Hearing Res. 96:126-140.
Delgutte B (1988). Physiological mechanisms of masking. In H Duifhuis, JW Horst, and HP Wit (Eds.), Basic Issues in Hearing. London: Academic, pp. 204-214.
Moore BCJ (1978). Psychophysical tuning curves measured in simultaneous and forward masking. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 63:524-532.
Oxenham AJ and Plack CJ (1997). A behavioral measure of basilar-membrane nonlinearity in listeners with normal and impaired hearing. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 101:3666-3675.
Ruggero MA, Robles L, and Rich NC (1992). Two-tone suppression in the basilar membrane of the cochlea: Mechanical basis of auditory-nerve rate suppression. J. Neurophysiol. 68:1087-1099.
Shera CA, Guinan JJ Jr and Oxenham AJ (2002). Revised estimates of human cochlear tuning from otoacoustic and behavioral measurements. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 99:3318-3323.

Theme 2: Cellular mechanisms in the Cochlear Nucleus

Sample report

Kalluri S and Delgutte B (2003). Mathematical model of cochlear nucleus onset neurons: I. Point neuron with many, weak synaptic inputs. J. Comput. Neurosci. 14:71-90.
Kopp-Scheinpflug C, Dehmel S, Dörrscheidt GJ, and Rübsamen R (2002). Interaction of excitation and inhibition in anteroventral cochlear nucleus neurons that receive large endbulb synaptic endings. J. Neurosci. 22:11004-11018.
May BJ and Sachs MB (1992). Dynamic range of neural rate responses in the ventral cochlear nucleus of awake cats. J. Neurophysiol. 68:1589-1602.

Theme 3: Binaural Interactions

Sample report

Bernstein LR (2001). Auditory processing of interaural timing information: New insights. J Neurosci Res 66:1035–1046.
Brand A, Behrend O, Marquardt T, McAlpine D, and Grothe B (2002). Precise inhibition is essential for microsecond interaural time difference coding. Nature 417:543-547.
Fitzpatrick DC, Kuwada S, Kim DO, Parham K, and Batra R (1999). Responses of neurons to click-pairs as simulated echoes: Auditory nerve to auditory cortex. J Acoust Soc Am 106:3460-3472.
MacPherson EA and Middlebrooks JC (2002). Listener weighting of cues for lateral angle: The duplex theory of sound localization revisited. J Acoust Soc Am 111:2219-2236.
Tollin DJ and Yin TCT (2003). Psychophysical investigation of an auditory spatial illusion in cats: The precedence effect. J Neurophysiol 90: 2149–2162.

Theme 4: Pitch and Temporal Coding

Sample report

Dai H (2000). On the relative importance of individual harmonics in pitch judgments. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 107:953-959.
Darwin CJ, Hukin RW, and Al Khatib BY (1995). Grouping in pitch perception: Evidence for sequential constraints. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 98:880-885.
Krumbholz, Patterson RD, Seither-Preisler A, Lammertmann C, and Lütkenhöner B (2003). Neuromagnetic evidence for a pitch processing center in Heschl’s gyrus. Cerebral Cortex 13:765–772.
Shamma S, and Klein D (2000). The case of the missing pitch templates: How harmonic templates emerge in the early auditory system. J Acoust Soc Am 107:2631-2644.
Winter IM, Wiegrebe L, and Patterson RD (2001). The temporal representation of the delay of iterated ripple noise in the ventral cochlear nucleus of the guinea pig. J Physiol 537:553-566.
Zatorre RJ (1988). Pitch perception of complex tones and human temporal lobe lesions. J Acoust Soc Am 84:556-572.

Theme 5: Neural Maps and Plasticity

Belin P, Zatorre RJ, Lafaille P, Ahad P, and Pike B. (2000). Voice-selective areas in human auditory cortex. Nature 403:309-12.
Fritz J, Shamma S, Elhilali M and Klein D (2003). Rapid task-related plasticity of spectrotemporal receptive fields in primary auditory cortex. Nature Neurosci. 6:1216-1223.
Hofman, van Riswick, and van Opstal (1998). PDF Pointers Commentary by Wightman and Kistler Relearning sound localization with new ears. Nature Neurosci. 1:417-421.
Kamke MR, Brown M, and Irvine DRF (2003). Plasticity in the tonotopic organization of the medial geniculate body in adult cats following restricted unilateral cochlear lesions. J. Comp. Neurol. 459:355-367.
Kilgard MP, and Merzenich MM (1998). Commentary by S. Juliano Cortical map reorganization enabled by nucleus basalis activity. Science 279:1714-1718.
Warren JD, and Griffths TD (2003). Pointers Distinct mechanisms for processing spatial sequences and pitch sequences in the human auditory brain. J. Neurosci. 23:5799 –5804.

Theme 6: Deafness and Hearing Impairment

Psychophysical aspects of hearing impairment
Cochlear implants