 |
The Journal of Neuroscience, February 4, 2004, 24(5):1159-1172; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3825-03.2004
Previous Article | Next Article 
Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Dynamics of Precise Spike Timing in Primary Auditory Cortex
Mounya Elhilali,
Jonathan B. Fritz,
David J. Klein,
Jonathan Z. Simon, and
Shihab A. Shamma
Institute for Systems Research, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742
Although single units in primary auditory cortex (A1) exhibit accurate timing in their phasic response to the onset of sound (precision of a few milliseconds), paradoxically, they are unable to sustain synchronized responses to repeated stimuli at rates much beyond 20 Hz. To explore the relationship between these two aspects of cortical response, we designed a broadband stimulus with a slowly modulated spectrotemporal envelope riding on top of a rapidly modulated waveform (or fine structure). Using this stimulus, we quantified the ability of cortical cells to encode independently and simultaneously the stimulus envelope and fine structure. Specifically, by reverse-correlating unit responses with these two stimulus dimensions, we measured the spectrotemporal response fields (STRFs) associated with the processing of the envelope, the fine structure, and the complete stimulus. A1 cells respond well to the slow spectrotemporal envelopes and produce a wide variety of STRFs. In over 70% of cases, A1 units also track the fine-structure modulations precisely, throughout the stimulus, and for frequencies up to several hundred Hertz. Such a dual response, however, is contingent on the cell being driven by both fast and slow modulations, in that the response to the slowly modulated envelope gates the expression of the fine structure. We also demonstrate that either a simplified model of synaptic depression and facilitation, and/or a cortical network of thalamic excitation and cortical inhibition can account for major trends in the observed findings. Finally, we discuss the potential functional significance and perceptual relevance of these coexistent, complementary dynamic response modes.
Key words: auditory; cortex; synaptic depression; temporal; precise spiking; receptive field
Received Aug 15, 2003;
revised December 8, 2003;
accepted December 10, 2003.
This article has been cited by other articles:

|
 |

|
 |
 
N. Ding and J. Z. Simon
Neural Representations of Complex Temporal Modulations in the Human Auditory Cortex
J Neurophysiol,
November 1, 2009;
102(5):
2731 - 2743.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
H. Versnel, M. P. Zwiers, and A. J. van Opstal
Spectrotemporal Response Properties of Inferior Colliculus Neurons in Alert Monkey
J. Neurosci.,
August 5, 2009;
29(31):
9725 - 9739.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
S. V. David, N. Mesgarani, J. B. Fritz, and S. A. Shamma
Rapid Synaptic Depression Explains Nonlinear Modulation of Spectro-Temporal Tuning in Primary Auditory Cortex by Natural Stimuli
J. Neurosci.,
March 18, 2009;
29(11):
3374 - 3386.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
C. Huetz, B. Philibert, and J.-M. Edeline
A Spike-Timing Code for Discriminating Conspecific Vocalizations in the Thalamocortical System of Anesthetized and Awake Guinea Pigs
J. Neurosci.,
January 14, 2009;
29(2):
334 - 350.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
H. Luo, Y. Wang, D. Poeppel, and J. Z. Simon
Concurrent Encoding of Frequency and Amplitude Modulation in Human Auditory Cortex: Encoding Transition
J Neurophysiol,
December 1, 2007;
98(6):
3473 - 3485.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
C. A. Atencio, D. T. Blake, F. Strata, S. W. Cheung, M. M. Merzenich, and C. E. Schreiner
Frequency-Modulation Encoding in the Primary Auditory Cortex of the Awake Owl Monkey
J Neurophysiol,
October 1, 2007;
98(4):
2182 - 2195.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
M. Elhilali, J. B. Fritz, T.-S. Chi, and S. A. Shamma
Auditory Cortical Receptive Fields: Stable Entities with Plastic Abilities
J. Neurosci.,
September 26, 2007;
27(39):
10372 - 10382.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
B. J. Malone, B. H. Scott, and M. N. Semple
Dynamic Amplitude Coding in the Auditory Cortex of Awake Rhesus Macaques
J Neurophysiol,
September 1, 2007;
98(3):
1451 - 1474.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
L. D. Ellis, W. H. Mehaffey, E. Harvey-Girard, R. W. Turner, L. Maler, and R. J. Dunn
SK Channels Provide a Novel Mechanism for the Control of Frequency Tuning in Electrosensory Neurons
J. Neurosci.,
August 29, 2007;
27(35):
9491 - 9502.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
V. M. Bajo, F. R. Nodal, J. K. Bizley, D. R. Moore, and A. J. King
The Ferret Auditory Cortex: Descending Projections to the Inferior Colliculus
Cereb Cortex,
February 1, 2007;
17(2):
475 - 491.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
H. Luo, Y. Wang, D. Poeppel, and J. Z. Simon
Concurrent Encoding of Frequency and Amplitude Modulation in Human Auditory Cortex: MEG Evidence
J Neurophysiol,
November 1, 2006;
96(5):
2712 - 2723.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
R. Narayan, G. Grana, and K. Sen
Distinct Time Scales in Cortical Discrimination of Natural Sounds in Songbirds
J Neurophysiol,
July 1, 2006;
96(1):
252 - 258.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
C. P. Billimoria, R. A. DiCaprio, J. T. Birmingham, L. F. Abbott, and E. Marder
Neuromodulation of spike-timing precision in sensory neurons.
J. Neurosci.,
May 31, 2006;
26(22):
5910 - 5919.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
T. J. Gardner and M. O. Magnasco
Sparse time-frequency representations
PNAS,
April 18, 2006;
103(16):
6094 - 6099.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
D. A. Hall, D. J. K. Barrett, M. A. Akeroyd, and A. Q. Summerfield
Cortical Representations of Temporal Structure in Sound
J Neurophysiol,
November 1, 2005;
94(5):
3181 - 3191.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
C. Boucsein, M. Nawrot, S. Rotter, A. Aertsen, and D. Heck
Controlling Synaptic Input Patterns In Vitro by Dynamic Photo Stimulation
J Neurophysiol,
October 1, 2005;
94(4):
2948 - 2958.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
R. Narayan, A. Ergun, and K. Sen
Delayed Inhibition in Cortical Receptive Fields and the Discrimination of Complex Stimuli
J Neurophysiol,
October 1, 2005;
94(4):
2970 - 2975.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
H. J. Rose and R. Metherate
Auditory Thalamocortical Transmission Is Reliable and Temporally Precise
J Neurophysiol,
September 1, 2005;
94(3):
2019 - 2030.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
P. E. Williams, F. Mechler, J. Gordon, R. Shapley, and M. J. Hawken
Entrainment to Video Displays in Primary Visual Cortex of Macaque and Humans
J. Neurosci.,
September 22, 2004;
24(38):
8278 - 8288.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|
|

|