QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

The Journal of Neuroscience, June 23, 2004, 24(25):5789-5797; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0450-04.2004

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (8) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Neuert, V. Articles by Winter, I. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Neuert, V. Articles by Winter, I. M.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Responses of Dorsal Cochlear Nucleus Neurons to Signals in the Presence of Modulated Maskers

Veronika Neuert,¹ Jesko L. Verhey,² and Ian M. Winter¹

¹Centre for the Neural Basis of Hearing, The Physiological Laboratory, Cambridge, CB2 3EG United Kingdom, and ²AG Neurosensorik, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany

The detection of a signal in noise is enhanced when the masking noise is coherently modulated over a wide range of frequencies. This phenomenon, known as comodulation masking release (CMR), has been attributed to across-channel processing; however, the relative contribution of different stages in the auditory system to such across-channel processing is unknown. It has been hypothesized that wideband or lateral inhibition may underlie a physiological correlate of CMR. To further test this hypothesis, we have measured the responses of single units from the dorsal cochlear nucleus in which wideband inhibition is particularly pronounced. Using a sinusoidally amplitude-modulated tone at the best frequency of each unit as a masker, a pure-tone signal was added in the dips of the masker modulation. Flanking bands (FBs, also amplitude-modulated pure tones) were positioned to fall within the inhibitory sidebands of the receptive field of the unit. The FBs were either in phase (comodulated) or out of phase (codeviant) with the on-frequency masker. For the majority of units, the addition of the comodulated FBs produced a strong reduction in the response to the masker modulation, making the signal more salient in the post stimulus time histograms. The change in spike rate in response to the signal between the masker and signal-plus-masker conditions was greatest for the comodulated condition for 29 of 45 units. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that wideband inhibition may play a role in across-channel processing at an early stage in the auditory pathway.

Key words: comodulation masking release; auditory scene analysis; response map; auditory brainstem; wideband inhibition; single unit

---

Received Feb 9, 2004; revised May 7, 2004; accepted May 12, 2004.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. Las, E. A. Stern, and I. Nelken Representation of Tone in Fluctuating Maskers in the Ascending Auditory System J. Neurosci., February 9, 2005; 25(6): 1503 - 1513. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. M. Ditch, T. Shirangi, J. L. Pitman, K. L. Latham, K. D. Finley, P. T. Edeen, B. J. Taylor, and M. McKeown Drosophila retained/dead ringer is necessary for neuronal pathfinding, female receptivity and repression of fruitless independent male courtship behaviors Development, January 1, 2005; 132(1): 155 - 164. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help