In this work is presented stochastic model of binaural hearing in context of another alternative models. According to latest experimental data on mammals, inhibition plays a role in interaural time difference recognition, which is a key for low frequency sound source localization. The outputs of experiments may lead to the conclusion that the binaural hearing works differently in mammals compared to birds. Nowadays there are a few theoretical works addressing this new phenomena, but all of them are relaying on a very precise inhibition timing, which was never proved as physiologically valid. On the other hand, models described in this work are based on the fact, that every neuron has a random delay when reacting to an excitation. If this time jitter is taken into account and combined with inhibitory signal, delay in the neuronal circuit and coincidence detection, then the output firing rate corresponds to the azimuth of the sound source. In this work it is shown, that such a neuronal circuits are giving the same output results compared to experimental data. The models are supported by analytical computations and numerical simulations including simulation of cochlear implant.

In this work is presented stochastic model of binaural hearing in context of another alternative models. According to latest experimental data on mammals, inhibition plays a role in interaural time difference recognition, which is a key for low frequency sound source localization. The outputs of experiments may lead to the conclusion that the binaural hearing works differently in mammals compared to birds. Nowadays there are a few theoretical works addressing this new phenomena, but all of them are relaying on a very precise inhibition timing, which was never proved as physiologically valid. On the other hand, models described in this work are based on the fact, that every neuron has a random delay when reacting to an excitation. If this time jitter is taken into account and combined with inhibitory signal, delay in the neuronal circuit and coincidence detection, then the output firing rate corresponds to the azimuth of the sound source. In this work it is shown, that such a neuronal circuits are giving the same output results compared to experimental data. The models are supported by analytical computations and numerical simulations including simulation of cochlear implant.

Le vieillissement dit "naturel", affecte physiologiquement les structures auditives périphériques; il en va de même du collicule supérieur (CS) lors du traitement des signaux auditifs et visuels. Chez le rat âgé, la sensibilité auditive périphérique diminue et l’extraction des attributs des signaux auditifs est modifiée, et ce, dès les noyaux cochléaires (premiers relais centraux de la voie auditive ascendante). De plus, les propriétés spectrales, temporelles et directionnelles des neurones auditifs du CS sont altérées lors du vieillissement. Ceci se manifeste aussi au niveau de l’organisation topographique de la sensibilité à la direction qui est abolie au sein des couches profondes du CS. Dans la même optique, l’extraction des attributs des fréquences spatiales concentriques mobiles (en présence ou en absence d’objet sonore modulé en amplitude) est altérée aussi au niveau des neurones audiovisuels du CS lors du vieillissement. En effet, au niveau spatial, chez l’animal âgé, la présence de déficits visuels est particulièrement marquée par une diminution de la sensibilité aux stimuli visuels et audiovisuels mobiles et rapides lors du déplacement de l’organisme dans son environnement. Compte tenu de l’ampleur des changements qui s’installent avec le vieillissement au niveau des structures périphériques et centrales, inévitablement, les mécanismes nerveux de la plasticité audiovisuelle de bas niveau, i.e. au niveau des neurones du CS, sont perturbés. En outre, chez l’animal âgé, le gain audiovisuel induit par l’activité des neurones du CS ne produit pas d’amélioration notable par rapport à la modalité unisensorielle. Dans l’ensemble, ces résultats montrent que le vieillissement perturbe l’activité neuronale du CS permettant de détecter les informations sensorielles pertinentes dans un environnement audiovisuel complexe. / Age-related physiological changes affect the peripheral auditory structures; this also applies to the superior colliculus (SC) auditory and visual processes. In aged rats, the peripheral hearing sensitivity decreases and at more central regions, particularly the first central node, in the ascending auditory projections, auditory processing of sounds is altered. Furthermore, at the level of the SC, spectral, temporal and directional properties of auditory neurons are also altered during aging. In addition, no systematic directional spatial arrangement is encountered among the neurons of aged rats, implying that the topographical organization of the auditory directional map is abolished in the deep layers of the SC. Moreover, in a condition where SC visual neurons are stimulated with looming concentric sinusoidal gratings (in the presence or in the absence of modulated audio signals), visual deficits in aged animals are particularly marked by a decrease in sensitivity to fast moving visual and audiovisual stimuli during self-motion. Given the links of age-related changes in the peripheral and in the central structures, inevitably, the mechanisms underlying the neuronal audiovisual plasticity, in the low-level (SC), are somehow disrupted. Specifically, in aged animals, the presence of the auditory stimulus when coupled with the visual signal did not enhance the response activity of the visual neurons. This seems to suggest that the mechanism that may serve to amplify the visual signal under weak or ambiguous and noisy conditions thus improving greater behavioral relevance of detecting rapidly approaching visual and audiovisual moving objects during self-motion is altered with aging. Overall, these results show that aging disrupts the SC neuronal activity that enables detection of relevant sensory information in a complex audiovisual environment.