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At least 1,261 records · Page 70Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

Spatial tuning of neurons in the inferior colliculus of the big brown bat: effects of sound level, stimulus type and multiple sound sources.

We examined factors that affect spatial receptive fields of single units in the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus of Eptesicus fuscus. Pure tones, frequency- or amplitude-modulated sounds, or noise bursts were presented in the free-field, and responses were recorded extracellularly. For 58 neurons that were tested over a 30 dB range of sound levels, 7 (12%) exhibited a change of less than 10 degrees in the center point and medical border of their receptive field. For 28 neurons that were tested with more than one stimulus type, 5 (18%) exhibited a change of less than 10 degrees in the center point and medial border of their receptive field. The azimuthal response ranges of 19 neurons were measured in the presence of a continuous broadband noise presented from a second loudspeaker set at different fixed azimuthal positions. For 3 neurons driven by a contralateral stimulus only, the effect of the noise was simple masking. For 11 neurons driven by sound at either side, 8 were unaffected by the noise and 1 showed a simple masking effect. For the remaining 2, as well as for 5 neurons that were excited by contralateral sound and inhibited by ipsilateral sound, the peak of the azimuthal response range shifted toward the direction of the noise.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1996

Behavioral detection of acoustic particle motion by a teleost fish (Astronotus ocellatus): sensitivity and directionality.

Behavioral detection thresholds for oscars (Astronotus ocellatus) were measured in response to linear, oscillatory motion at 100 Hz along seven axes (-90 degrees, -60 degrees, -30 degrees, 0 degree, +30 degrees, and +60 degrees in azimuth, where 0 degree is the fish longitudinal axis; and the vertical axis) using a cardiac classical conditioning paradigm. Thresholds at all selected axes ranged from -58 to -56 dB re: 1 micron, which corresponds to 1.2 to 1.6 nm displacement (RMS). Thus, oscars appear to be equally sensitive to stimulation at all axes in three dimensional space. Behavioral thresholds of the oscar are close to the neural thresholds obtained from the most sensitive auditory nerve fibers in two other species, the goldfish (Carassius auratus) and the toadfish (Opsanus tau).

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1995

Selective phonotaxis to advertisement calls in the grey treefrog Hyla versicolor: behavioral experiments and neurophysiological correlates.

1. The significance of particular acoustic properties of advertisement calls for selective phonotaxis by the gray treefrog, Hyla versicolor (= HV), was studied behaviorally and neurophysiologically. Most stimuli were played back at 85 dB SPL, a level typically measured at 1-2 m from a calling male. 2. Females preferred stimuli with conspecific pulse shapes at 20 degrees and 24 degrees C, but not at 16 degrees C. Tests with normal and time-reversed pulses indicated the preferences were not influenced by the minor differences in the long-term spectra of pulses of different shape. 3. Pulse shape and rate had synergistic or antagonistic effects on female preferences depending on whether the values of one or both of these properties in alternative stimuli were typical of those in HV or heterospecific (H. chrysoscelis = HC) calls. 4. More auditory neurons in the torus semicircularis were temporally selective to synthetic calls (90%) than to sinusoidally AM tones and noise (< 70%). 5. Band-pass neurons were tuned to AM rates of 15-60 Hz. Neurons were more likely to be tuned to HV AM rates (< 40 Hz) when stimuli had pulses with HV rather than HC shapes. 6. Sharp temporal tuning was uncommon and found only in neurons with band-pass or low-pass characteristics. 7. Many neurons differed significantly in response to HV and HC stimulus sets. Maximum spike rate was more often elicited by an HV stimulus (74%) than by an HC stimulus (24%). 8. Differences in spike rates elicited by HV and HC stimuli were attributable to combinations of differences in the rise times and shapes of the pulses.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1994

Transfer of short-term adaptation in human saccadic eye movements.

Controversy exists as to the extent to which the saccadic system, adapted in the so-called 'gain-shortening paradigm' for a particular target configuration, transfers the resulting change in saccade metrics to saccades elicited under different circumstances. In order to further assess this problem, we investigated the properties of human saccadic eye movements after visually induced short-term adaptation under a variety of conditions. We observed that saccades both during and after the adaptation did not significantly change their main sequence properties with respect to the pre-adaptation baseline. Saccade velocity profiles remained normal throughout the experiment, and we obtained no evidence that correction saccades were gradually absorbed in the primary saccade. We found that the effect of the short-term adaptation on saccade metrics is not confined to the particular combination of initial eye position and spatial position of the visual target used to induce the adaptation response. Saccades elicited from different initial positions towards targets with the same retinotopic coordinates as in the adaptation phase yield the same level of adaptation. However, our findings indicate that adaptation is confined to a limited range of saccade vectors around the oculocentric coordinates of the adaptation target ('restricted adaptation field'). Smaller and larger saccades are endowed with significantly lower adaptation values. Moreover, two further experiments showed that a retinal stimulus is not a prerequisite for adaptation to express itself: First, in a double-step experiment, we dissociated the retinal stimulus vector from the required oculomotor response. Second, we also investigated the effect of visually induced adaptation on auditory evoked saccades. In both tasks the adaptation was transferred to the required motor response. Based on our findings, we conclude that short-term adaptation is expressed at a multisensory stage, where saccadic eye movements are represented as desired eye displacement vectors (motor error). Possible neurophysiological implications are discussed.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1996

The effect of eye position on auditory lateralization.

The present study examines whether the direction of gaze can influence sound lateralization. For this purpose, dichotic stimuli with variable interaural level difference (ILD) were presented under different conditions of visual fixation. In experiment 1, subjects with their head fixed directed their gaze to a given target, simultaneously adjusting the ILD of continuous pure tone or noise stimuli so that their location was perceived in the median plane of the head. The auditory adjustments were significantly correlated with gaze direction. During eccentric fixation, the psychophysical adjustments to the median plane shifted slightly toward the direction of gaze. The magnitude of the shift was about 1-3 dB, over a range of fixation angles of 45 degrees to either side. The eye position effect, measured as a function of pure-tone frequency, was most pronounced at 2 kHz and showed a tendency to decrease at lower and higher frequencies. The effect still occurred, although weaker, even when the eyes were directed to eccentric positions in darkness and without a fixation target. In experiment 2, the adjustment method was replaced by a two-alternative forced-choice method. Subjects judged whether sound bursts, presented with variable ILDs, were perceived on the left or right of the median plane during fixation of targets in various directions. Corresponding to experiment 1, the psychometric functions shifted significantly with gaze direction. However, the shift was only about half as large as that found in experiment 1. The shift of the subjective auditory median plane in the direction of eccentric gaze, observed in both experiments, indicates that dichotic sound is localized slightly to the opposite side, i.e., to the left when the gaze is directed to the right and vice versa. The effect may be related to auditory neurons which exhibit spatially selective receptive fields that shift with eye position.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1990

Neural mechanisms of directional hearing in the pigeon.

The directional sensitivity of single auditory neurons in the midbrain (Nucleus mesencephalicus lateralis pars dorsalis) of the pigeon (Columba livia) was studied, using acoustic free-field stimulation (usually pure tones) in the frontal hemifield. Of a total of 337 units, 84.6% showed statistically significant changes of their responses as a function of sound azimuth. Of these, most units respond maximally to sounds in a particular azimuthal range, each has its "best area". These neurons were classified into four classes according to the properties of their best areas: (1) contralateral neurons (53.4%); (2) ipsilateral neurons (6.2%); (3) frontal neurons (18.1%); and (4) complex neurons (3.3%). The first two showed only one border of the best area within the frontal hemifield, with an increase of response strength towards the contralateral and the ipsilateral side, respectively; with frontal neurons, the best area was bounded towards both sides within the frontal hemifield, whereas the complex neurons had two or more separated best areas or extensive frontal inhibitory areas. In the remaining units (3.6%), termed weakly directional neurons, changes of their discharge rate depending on sound azimuth were statistically significant, but too poor to determine any best areas. There was a significant under-representation of best frequencies in the mid-frequency range (1-2 kHz) with a minimum in the relative number of MLD neurons recorded from at 2 kHz. However, the directional sensitivity of the neurons quantified by analysing different parameters of the directional diagrams (dynamic range, roll-off steepness, best area width) was undiminished in the mid-frequency range. In several experiments, in addition to the neurons' directional sensitivity in free-field sound, their sensitivity to interaural ongoing time (phase) differences (OTDs) and interaural intensity differences (IIDs) were also tested, using dichotic stimulation (pure tones) by headphones. Directional sensitive neurons tuned to low frequencies (best frequency less than 2 kHz) were either sensitive exclusively to OTDs or to both OTDs and IIDs; the ranges of best OTDs were correlated significantly with the azimuthal position of the best area. "High frequency" units (best frequency greater than 2 kHz) were sensitive to IIDs but not to OTDs.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1980

Functional properties of neurons in the temporo-parietal association cortex of awake monkey.

The temporo-parietal association cortex around the caudal end of the Sylvian fissure was studied with the single cell recording technique in three awake behaving Macaca speciosa-monkeys. Of the 197 cells isolated, 5% were active only during the monkey's own movements, mostly during head rotation, and 95% were responsive to sensory stimulation: 54% to auditory stimuli, 24% to somatosensory stimuli, 13% to both of these and 4% to visual stimuli. Some cells, classified as responsive to somatosensory stimuli, were activated only by passive rotation of the head on the cervical axis; it is possible that they were driven by vestibular stimuli. Half of the cells were activated by stimuli on both sides of the monkey, and almost all the rest, only by stimuli on the side contralateral to the hemisphere recorded. Of the acoustically drivable cells, 95% responded to natural sounds, such as, rubbing hands together, rustle of clothes, clicks or jingles (sounds with noise spectrum and rapid intensity transitions). Most of these neurons were also examined with pure tones of 0.2-20 kHz: various inhibitory or excitatory responses were elicited in half of them, usually over a wide range of frequencies. The responses of most acoustically drivable cells (62%) depended on the location of the sound source with reference to the monkey's head so that the maximal response was elicited by sounds with a certain angle of incidence, usually on the contralateral side. The present results suggest that the area studied participates in the analysis of the temporal pattern of a sound, the location of the sound source and in spatial control of head movements.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Eye and head movements to auditory targets.

Three adult female monkeys were trained to direct their gaze toward auditory targets. When the animals were free to move their heads about the vertical axis, this was accomplished with short-latency, coordinated eye-head movements reminiscent of responses to visual targets. The similarity of response to auditory and visual targets suggests a common motor program elicited by stimuli of different modalities. Since these modalities do not share the same reference system, this implies a remapping between the two reference systems.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Saccadic responses evoked by presentation of visual and auditory targets.

Saccadic eye movements evoked by the presentation of visual and auditory targets were examined and compared. Differences were found either in the pattern of the saccadic response and in the characteristics of single saccades of the same amplitude. The longer latency and the higher percentage of multiple saccade responses in the auditory case were attributed to a more complex central processing, whereas the longer duration and the lower peak velocity of the saccades to auditory targets were attributed to reduced performances of the execution mechanism in the absence of vision.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1996

Contribution of the forebrain archistriatal gaze fields to auditory orienting behavior in the barn owl.

A region in the barn owl forebrain, referred to as the archistriatal gaze fields (AGF), is shown to be involved in auditory orienting behavior. In a previous study, electrical microstimulation of the AGF was shown to produce saccadic movements of the eyes and head, and anatomical data revealed that neurons in the AGF region of the archistriatum project directly to brainstem tegmental nuclei that mediate gaze changes. In this study, we investigated the effects of AGF inactivation on the auditory orienting responses of trained barn owls. The AGF and/or the optic tectum (OT) were inactivated pharmacologically using the GABAA agonist muscimol. Inactivation of the AGF alone had no effect on the probability or accuracy of orienting responses to contralateral acoustic stimuli. Inactivation of the OT alone decreased the probability of responses to contralateral stimuli, but the animals were still capable of orienting accurately toward stimuli on about 60% of the trials. Inactivation of both the AGF and the OT drastically decreased the probability of responses to 16-21% and, on the few trials that the animals did respond, there was no relationship between the final direction of gaze and the location of the stimulus. Thus, with the AGF and OT both inactivated, the animals were no longer capable of orienting accurately toward acoustic stimuli located on the contralateral side. These data confirm that the AGF is involved in gaze control and that the AGF and the OT have parallel access to gaze control circuitry in the brainstem tegmentum. In these respects, the AGF in barn owls is functionally equivalent to the frontal eye fields in primates.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1987

Processing of interaural time and intensity differences in the cat inferior colliculus.

1. Binaural neurones were recorded in the central nucleus of the cat inferior colliculus and were stimulated with tone and noise bursts. Closed field sound systems were used to produce independent interaural time (ITD) and intensity (IID) differences. Particular attention was paid to high frequency (above 2 kHz) cells. 2. Three main types of binaural neurone were found: High frequency excitatory-inhibitory neurones (EI cells), excited by input from the contralateral ear and inhibited by ipsilateral input, high frequency excitatory-excitatory cells (EE cells), excited by inputs from either ear and low frequency cells sensitive to interaural phase differences (IPD cells). 3. The EI cells had characteristics similar to those of IE cells in the contralateral lateral superior olive. They were sensitive to envelope ITDs (most cells) and IIDs (all cells) favouring the contralateral ear. The response of these cells increased with increasing contra lead ITDs or contra loud IIDs up to values well outside the physiological range. 4. Low frequency binaural cells were sensitive to interaural phase differences (IPDs). The peak response was often in the contralateral physiological range and the response was unaffected by IIDs. 5. Many high frequency EE cells were sensitive to envelope ITDs. These units were relatively unaffected by IID. Although the ITD sensitivity of these cells was generally less than that of the IPD cells, the peak response of the ITD curve was also often in the contralateral physiological range. 6. Some of the high frequency EI and EE cells were sensitive to ongoing time differences (OTDs) in white noise signals, i.e. they showed ITD response curves to carrier only shifted noise bursts. 7. The EI cells often showed recovery from inhibition at large ipsilateral lead. This tendency was increased as the sound pressure level on the inhibitory side was lowered and by the use of click stimuli. Similarly, cycles of suppression could be seen to follow excitation in some EE cells. The time course of these effects was in the order of hundreds of microseconds. 8. Binaural characteristics (degree of ITD, IID or OTD sensitivity) showed considerable interunit variation within each cell type. These variations were also affected by signal type (tone or noise bursts) and did not appear to be correlated with best frequency, nature of the tuning curve or PSTH type. We suggest that the time course of the inhibitory and excitatory effects at each unit (and its interaction with the signal type) determines the type of ITD response and that this time course varies from cell to cell.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1991

The influence of stationary auditory fields on postural sway behaviour in man.

Postural sway behaviour was investigated in 30 young subjects (15 male and 15 female) during 60 s of erect standing, under various combinations of auditory and visual input. Sway was assessed using a standard biomechanical measuring platform, the output of which led directly to an online computer from which the following parameters were determined: mean lateral and antero-posterior sway, velocity and radius of sway, length of the sway path and area within the sway profile. A marked difference in sway behaviour between the sexes was observed, with women showing increased magnitudes of some sway parameters. Postural sway was significantly increased in conditions without visual feedback. The presence of an auditory field tends to have a destabilising influence on sway behaviour, with both the direction of the sound source and the type of auditory input being important variables. Nevertheless there appears to be no interaction between the visual and the auditory environment in the control of posture.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

The resolution of brief interaural time-difference changes: recordings from primary auditory cortical projection field AI of the cat.

The ability of the auditory organ to resolve brief changes in an acoustic signal presented either monaurally or binaurally is not only of great importance in the processing of speech, it is also involved in the localization of sound stimuli and in selective listening. In the latter context, the electric activity of the primary auditory cortical projection field AI of the cat has been studied with the aim of evaluating specific response patterns evoked by brief changes in interaural time difference. The differences in response of the neuron populations sampled by two recording electrodes indicate that, within this area, there are significant differences in temporal resolution ability. Whereas click stimuli elicit distinct potential patterns at the two sites, with a brief change in interaural time difference, a marked response is recorded by only one of the electrodes. This response is characterized by a decrease in amplitude as the interaural time difference is reduced and as the duration of the time-shift stimulus decreases.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Primary lateral line response to water surface waves in the topminnow Aplocheilus lineatus (Pisces, Cyprinodontidae).

1. The function of supraorbital organ II/2 of the head lateral line system of the surface feeding fish Aplocheilus lineatus is characterized here by the lateral line nerve response evoked by biologically relevant surface wave trains. 2. A single organ is particularly sensitive to the high frequency, low amplitude cycles at the beginning of a click evoked wave train. By using gated sinusoidal signals it was shown that the following mechanisms are responsible: a. a strong phasic component superimposed on the tonic response component, b. high sensitivity of the organ in the frequency range between 70 and 120 Hz (corresponding to the frequency range of the first cycles of a prey evoked wave), c. the organ is responsive to the acceleration component of wave stimulation (b approximately f2). 4. As the time structure of a surface wave is encoded in a corresponding discharge pattern in the lateral line nerve it is probable that the time structure ('stimulus pattern') of a signal is used by A. lineatus to estimate the distance to its source.

Animals↗