Andrew J King

Abstract Auditory learning is supported by long-term changes in the neural processing of sound. We examined these task-depend changes in auditory cortex by mapping neural sensitivity to timbre, pitch and location cues in trained ferrets (n = 5), and untrained control ferrets (n = 5). Trained animals either identified vowels in a two-alternative forced choice task (n = 3) or discriminated when a repeating vowel changed in identity or pitch (n = 2).

Abstract Neurons in primary visual cortex (V1) respond to natural scenes with a sparse and irregular spike code that is carefully balanced by an interplay between excitatory and inhibitory neurons. These neuron classes differ in their spike statistics, tuning preferences, connectivity statistics and temporal dynamics. To date, no single computational principle has been able to account for these properties.

Abstract Hearing involves analyzing the physical attributes of sounds and integrating the results of this analysis with other sensory, cognitive and motor variables in order to guide adaptive behavior. The auditory cortex is considered crucial for the integration of acoustic and contextual information and is thought to share the resulting representations with subcortical auditory structures via its vast descending projections.