The primary auditory cortex (area AI) plays an important role in the localization of static sound sources. However, little is known concerning how it processes information about sound source motion. This study was undertaken to investigate the responses of single neurons in the primary auditory cortex of the cat to correlates of auditory motion in space. Diotic and dichotic changes in sound intensity presented through earphones simulated auditory motion in four directions: toward and away from the receiver along the midline, into the ipsilateral hemifield and into the contralateral hemifield. Different rates of intensity change simulated sound source velocity. Results indicate that AI neurons can be highly selective to intensity correlates of auditory motion. Three major classes of neurons were encountered: neurons sensitive to motion toward or away from the receiver, neurons sensitive to ipsilateral- or contralateral-directed motion, and monaural-like neurons. The different classes of direction-selective neurons were spatially segregated from each other and appeared to occur in clusters or columns in the cortex. In addition to their selectivity for different directions of simulated sound source motion, AI neurons also responded selectively to the rate and excursion of intensity changes, a correlate of sound source velocity. The major determinants of direction and velocity selectivity were interactions between the following response properties of AI neurons: binaural interaction type, ear dominance, on/off responses, and monotonicity of rate/intensity function. These findings suggest that neural processing of auditory motion may involve neural mechanisms distinct from those involved in static sound localization, and indicate that some neurons in the primary auditory cortex may be part of a specialized motion-detecting mechanism in the auditory system. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/29640 |
| Date | January 1990 |
| Creators | Stumpf, Erika |
| Publisher | University of British Columbia |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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