Welcome to the new version of CaltechAUTHORS. Login is currently restricted to library staff. If you notice any issues, please email coda@library.caltech.edu
Published June 6, 1995 | Published
Journal Article Open

Mechanisms underlying the sensitivity of songbird forebrain neurons to temporal order

Abstract

Neurons in the songbird forebrain area HVc (hyperstriatum ventrale pars caudale or high vocal center) are sensitive to the temporal structure of the bird's own song and are capable of integrating auditory information over a period of several hundred milliseconds. Extracellular studies have shown that the responses of some HVc neurons depend on the combination and temporal order of syllables from the bird's own song, but little is known about the mechanisms underlying these response properties. To investigate these mechanisms, we recorded intracellular responses to a set of auditory stimuli designed to assess the degree of dependence of the responses on temporal contest. This report provides evidence that HVc neurons encode information about temporal structure by using a variety of mechanisms including syllable-specific inhibition, excitatory postsynaptic potentials with a range of different time courses, and burst-firing nonlinearity. The data suggest that the sensitivity of HVc neurons to temporal combinations of syllables results from the interactions of several cells and does not arise in a single step from afferent inputs alone.

Additional Information

Copyright © 1995 by the National Academy of Sciences. Contributed by Masakazu Konishi, February 22, 1995. We thank James Mazer, David Perkel, and Allison Doupe for helpful comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by a National Institutes of Health research training grant and an Engineering Research Center fellowship. The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. §1734 solely to indicate this fact.

Attached Files

Published - LEWpnas95b.pdf

Files

LEWpnas95b.pdf
Files (1.2 MB)
Name Size Download all
md5:1de893de3af1e6480080fb8e63f1153f
1.2 MB Preview Download

Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
October 23, 2023