The dominant role of low‐frequency interaural time differences in sound localization

1992 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
pp. 1648-1661 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederic L. Wightman ◽  
Doris J. Kistler
2011 ◽  
pp. 573-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. DRAPAL ◽  
P. MARSALEK

Interaural time differences (ITDs), the differences of arrival time of the sound at the two ears, provide a major cue for low-frequency sound localization in the horizontal plane. The first nucleus involved in the computation of ITDs is the medial superior olive (MSO). We have modeled the neural circuit of the MSO using a stochastic description of spike timing. The inputs to the circuit are stochastic spike trains with a spike timing distribution described by a given probability density function (beta density). The outputs of the circuit reproduce the empirical firing rates found in experiment in response to the varying ITD. The outputs of the computational model are calculated numerically and these numerical simulations are also supported by analytical calculations. We formulate a simple hypothesis concerning how sound localization works in mammals. According to this hypothesis, there is no array of delay lines as in the Jeffress’ model, but the inhibitory input is shifted in time as a whole. This is consistent with experimental observations in mammals.


2011 ◽  
Vol 106 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Michael Burger ◽  
Iwao Fukui ◽  
Harunori Ohmori ◽  
Edwin W. Rubel

Interaural time differences (ITDs) are the primary cue animals, including humans, use to localize low-frequency sounds. In vertebrate auditory systems, dedicated ITD processing neural circuitry performs an exacting task, the discrimination of microsecond differences in stimulus arrival time at the two ears by coincidence-detecting neurons. These neurons modulate responses over their entire dynamic range to sounds differing in ITD by mere hundreds of microseconds. The well-understood function of this circuitry in birds has provided a fruitful system to investigate how inhibition contributes to neural computation at the synaptic, cellular, and systems level. Our recent studies in the chicken have made significant progress in bringing together many of these findings to provide a cohesive picture of inhibitory function.


2005 ◽  
Vol 93 (6) ◽  
pp. 3390-3400 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. R. D’Angelo ◽  
S. J. Sterbing ◽  
E.-M. Ostapoff ◽  
S. Kuwada

A major cue for the localization of sound in space is the interaural time difference (ITD). We examined the role of inhibition in the shaping of ITD responses in the inferior colliculus (IC) by iontophoretically ejecting γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) antagonists and GABA itself using a multibarrel pipette. The GABA antagonists block inhibition, whereas the applied GABA provides a constant level of inhibition. The effects on ITD responses were evaluated before, during and after the application of the drugs. If GABA-mediated inhibition is involved in shaping ITD tuning in IC neurons, then applying additional amounts of this inhibitory transmitter should alter ITD tuning. Indeed, for almost all neurons tested, applying GABA reduced the firing rate and consequently sharpened ITD tuning. Conversely, blocking GABA-mediated inhibition increased the activity of IC neurons, often reduced the signal-to-noise ratio and often broadened ITD tuning. Blocking GABA could also alter the shape of the ITD function and shift its peak suggesting that the role of inhibition is multifaceted. These effects indicate that GABAergic inhibition at the level of the IC is important for ITD coding.


Geophysics ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 75 (6) ◽  
pp. N97-N107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valeri Korneev

Low-frequency analytical solutions have been obtained for phase velocities of symmetrical fluid waves within both an infinite fracture and a pipe filled with a viscous fluid. Three different fluid wave regimes can exist in such objects, depending on the various combinations of parameters, such as fluid density, fluid viscosity, walls shear modulus, channel thickness, and frequency. Equations for velocities of all these regimes have explicit forms and are verified by comparisons with the exact solutions. The dominant role of fractures in rock permeability at field scales and the strong amplitude and frequency effects of Stoneley guided waves suggest the importance of including these wave effects into poroelastic theories.


e-Neuroforum ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Leibold ◽  
B. Grothe

AbstractThe Jeffress model for the computation and encoding of interaural time differences (ITDs) is one of the most widely known theoretical models of a neuronal microcircuit. In archosaurs (birds and reptiles), several features envisioned by Jeffress in 1948 seem to be implemented, like a topographic map of space and axonal delay lines. In mammals, however, most of the model predictions could not be verified or have been disproved. This led to an ongoing competition of alternative models and hypothesis, which is not settled by far. Particularly the role of the feed-forward inhibitory inputs to the binaural coincidence detector neurons in the medial superior olive (MSO) remains a matter of debate. In this paper, we review the present state of the field and indicate what in our opinion are the most important gaps in understanding of the mammalian circuitry. Approaching these issues requires integrating all levels of neuroscience from cellular biophysics to behavior and even evolution.


2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Barth

Abstract Scientific findings have indicated that psychological and social factors are the driving forces behind most chronic benign pain presentations, especially in a claim context, and are relevant to at least three of the AMA Guides publications: AMA Guides to Evaluation of Disease and Injury Causation, AMA Guides to Work Ability and Return to Work, and AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. The author reviews and summarizes studies that have identified the dominant role of financial, psychological, and other non–general medicine factors in patients who report low back pain. For example, one meta-analysis found that compensation results in an increase in pain perception and a reduction in the ability to benefit from medical and psychological treatment. Other studies have found a correlation between the level of compensation and health outcomes (greater compensation is associated with worse outcomes), and legal systems that discourage compensation for pain produce better health outcomes. One study found that, among persons with carpal tunnel syndrome, claimants had worse outcomes than nonclaimants despite receiving more treatment; another examined the problematic relationship between complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and compensation and found that cases of CRPS are dominated by legal claims, a disparity that highlights the dominant role of compensation. Workers’ compensation claimants are almost never evaluated for personality disorders or mental illness. The article concludes with recommendations that evaluators can consider in individual cases.


2019 ◽  
Vol 85 (1(I)) ◽  
pp. 64-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. Gadenin

The cycle configuration at two-frequency loading regimes depends on the number of parameters including the absolute values of the frequencies and amplitudes of the low-frequency and high-frequency loads added during this mode, the ratio of their frequencies and amplitudes, as well as the phase shift between these harmonic components, the latter having a significant effect only with a small ratio of frequencies. Presence of such two-frequency regimes or service loading conditions for parts of machines and structures schematized by them can significantly reduce their endurance. Using the results of experimental studies of changes in the endurance of a two-frequency loading of specimens of cyclically stable, cyclically softened and cyclically hardened steels under rigid conditions we have shown that decrease in the endurance under the aforementioned conditions depends on the ratio of frequencies and amplitudes of operation low-frequency low-cycle and high-frequency vibration stresses, and, moreover, the higher the level of the ratios of amplitudes and frequencies of those stacked harmonic processes of loading the greater the effect. It is shown that estimation of such a decrease in the endurance compared to a single frequency loading equal in the total stress (strains) amplitudes can be carried out using an exponential expression coupling those endurances through a parameter (reduction factor) containing the ratio of frequencies and amplitudes of operation cyclic loads and characteristic of the material. The reduction is illustrated by a set of calculation-experimental curves on the corresponding diagrams for each of the considered types of materials and compared with the experimental data.


Author(s):  
D.Sh. Macharadze

В обзорной статье приведены данные по распространенности респираторной аллергии - аллергического ринита и бронхиальной астмы на юге России, опубликованные за последние десятилетия. Показана доминирующая роль пыльцевой аллергии практически во всем южном регионе России. В Чеченской Республике у больных респираторной аллергией обнаружена сходная частота встречаемости сенсибилизации к клещам домашней пыли и пыльце злаковых трав (51,1 и 52,5 соответственно), тогда как сенсибилизация к пыльце амброзии и полыни встречалась в 3 раза реже (26,6 и 20,7 соответственно) по сравнению с соседними регионами юга России. Эти данные демонстрируют климатогеографические, экологические и другие региональные особенности в распространении респираторной аллергии.The review article presents data on the prevalence of respiratory allergy - allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma in southern Russia, published over the past decades. The dominant role of pollen allergy is shown in almost the entire southern region of Russia. In the Chechen Republic, sensitization to house dust mites and grass pollen was found in patients with respiratory allergy equally (51.1 and 52.5, respectively), whereas ragweed and mugwort sensitization was 3 times less (26.6 and 20.7, respectively) compared with the neighboring regions of southern Russia. These data demonstrate climate-geographical, environmental and other regional features in the prevalence of respiratory allergies.


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