Information analysis of sound feature representation

描述（由申请人提供）：在本研究项目中，我们建议使用信息论技术来量化通过失智猫的耳蜗核（CN）和下丘中央核（ICC）的复杂声刺激的信息流。这些结构是通向大脑皮层的听觉通路的必经之路，每个结构都包含几种不同的反应类型，它们同时处理听觉信号。我们的假设是，这些不同的反应类型已经出现，分别编码声刺激的各个方面。例如，一些响应类型可能编码有关声压波的时间包络的信息，另一些响应类型可能对声音的局部频谱结构敏感，还有一些响应类型可能涉及处理声音的位置。我们将测试各种响应类型对具有语音特征的声音的时间和频谱包络的相对灵敏度，以及对嵌入在内部差异中的位置线索的相对灵敏度。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Under this fellowship, we propose to use information theoretic techniques to quantify the flow of information about complex acoustic stimuli through the cochlear nucleus (CN) and the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (ICC) of decerebrate cats. These structures are obligatory stops in the auditory pathway to the cortex, and each contains several different response types that process the auditory signal in parallel. Our hypothesis is that these different response types have arisen to encode separately the various aspects of acoustic stimuli. For example, some response types may be encoding information about the temporal envelope of the acoustic pressure wave, others may be sensitive to the local spectral structure of the sound, and still others may be involved in processing the sound's location. We will test the relative sensitivity of various response types to the temporal and spectral envelopes of sound with speech-like characteristics, as well as to location cues embedded in interaural differences.