The Relative Significance of the Signal Amplitude and the Rate of Its Change for Spike Generation in Medullar Auditory Neurons of Amphibians
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Keywords

auditory pathway
medulla oblongata
temporal coding
the rate of change of amplitude
amphibians
adaptation

Abstract

We investigated the responses of single neurons in the dorsal medullar nucleus of the grass frog (Rana t. temporaria L.) to tones with amplitude modulated by repetitive bursts of low-frequency noise. The carrier frequency corresponded to the neuronal characteristic frequency within the range of 0.2–2.0 kHz. The responses were compared with current instantaneous values of the signal amplitude and the rate of its change. There were detected neurons with responses modulated either by the current signal amplitude or the rate of change of amplitude or a combination of both parameters. In the vast majority of neurons, the rate of change of amplitude played a crucial role in spike generation. The data obtained were collated with functional features of neurons located in the mammalian cochlear nucleus.

https://doi.org/10.31857/S0044452919030045
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