Re: triggers for neural activity in the auditory periphery

[Martin Braun <nombraun@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Tuesday, May 11, Annemarie Seither-Preisler asked:

> are there any physiological studies on the question, what are the exact
triggers for the activation of auditory brainstem nuclei? I am
especially interested in the question whether the CN responds to abrupt
peaks in the activity of the auditory nerve, or rather exhibits temporal
integration characteristics before becoming active itself. Is there any
knowledge about the order of such integration times and are they
frequency-specific?

According to common usage of the term, there is no temporal integration in
the auditory brainstem. All signals are passing through here in a few
milliseconds.

There is of course temporal computation in the superior olivary complex
(SOC) for sound localization in the order of microseconds, and in the
central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (ICC) for pitch extraction in the
order of milliseconds.

The literature on brainstem evoked potentials reports the various response
latencies in the auditory brainstem.

Martin

--------------------------------
Martin Braun
Neuroscience of Music
S-671 95 Klässbol
Sweden
web site: http://w1.570.telia.com/~u57011259/index.htm