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

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

The Journal of Neuroscience, March 4, 2009, 29(9):2780-2793; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2042-08.2009

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental Data 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 PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Woolley, S. M. N. Articles by Theunissen, F. E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Woolley, S. M. N. Articles by Theunissen, F. E.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Functional Groups in the Avian Auditory System

Sarah M. N. Woolley,¹ Patrick R. Gill,² Thane Fremouw,⁵ and Frédéric E. Theunissen^2,3,4

¹Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, ²Biophysics Graduate Group, ³Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, and ⁴Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, and ⁵Department of Psychology, University of Maine, Orono, Maine 04469

Correspondence should be addressed to either of the following: Frédéric E. Theunissen, Department of Psychology and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, 3210 Tolman Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, Email: theunissen{at}berkeley.edu; or Sarah M. N. Woolley, Columbia University, Department of Psychology, 1190 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027, Email: sw2277{at}columbia.edu

Auditory perception depends on the coding and organization of the information-bearing acoustic features of sounds by auditory neurons. We report here that auditory neurons can be classified into functional groups, each of which plays a specific role in extracting distinct complex sound features. We recorded the electrophysiological responses of single auditory neurons in the songbird midbrain and forebrain to conspecific song, measured their tuning by calculating spectrotemporal receptive fields (STRFs), and classified them using multiple cluster analysis methods. Based on STRF shape, cells clustered into functional groups that divided the space of acoustical features into regions that represent cues for the fundamental acoustic percepts of pitch, timbre, and rhythm. Four major groups were found in the midbrain, and five major groups were found in the forebrain. Comparing STRFs in midbrain and forebrain neurons suggested that both inheritance and emergence of tuning properties occur as information ascends the auditory processing stream.

---

Received May 4, 2008; revised Jan. 16, 2009; accepted Jan. 20, 2009.

Correspondence should be addressed to either of the following: Frédéric E. Theunissen, Department of Psychology and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, 3210 Tolman Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, Email: theunissen{at}berkeley.edu; or Sarah M. N. Woolley, Columbia University, Department of Psychology, 1190 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027, Email: sw2277{at}columbia.edu

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help