Subject: Re: triggers for neural activity in the auditory periphery From: Martin Braun <nombraun(at)TELIA.COM> Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 13:43:16 +0200On 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