Coding of Vertical Sound Localization Cues by Type IV Neurons in the Dorsal Cochlear Nucleus

by Lina A.J. Reiss, Ph.D. candidate
Department of Biomedical Engineering and Center for Hearing Science
Johns Hopkins University

Abstract:

Recent psychophysical experiments suggest that the rising spectral edges
of HRTF mid-frequency notches are the relevant feature used by humans for
vertical sound localization (Macpherson & Middlebrooks, 1999).
Electrophysiological studies also showed that neurons in the inferior
colliculus (IC) exhibit excitatory peaks to rising spectral edges aligned
near BF (Davis et al., 2002).  I will describe edge sensitivity in the
dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN), and show how edge sensitivity could arise
from DCN circuitry and how it can be predicted by models of DCN spectral
processes.

Supported by NIH grant DC00115 and NIH predoctoral fellowship DC00441.