Viemeister N F
Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455.
Hear Res. 1988 Aug;34(3):267-74. doi: 10.1016/0378-5955(88)90007-x.
The psychophysical data on intensity discrimination indicate that certain schemes are unlikely as general intensity codes at the level of the auditory nerve and indirectly suggest that the most likely code is one based upon the firing rates of frequency-localized groups of fibers. A detection-theory analysis of a rate-based intensity code indicates that information from very few fibers can, if the information is appropriately combined, account for psychophysical discrimination even at high intensities. This suggests that fibers with similar CFs can code intensity over a wide range and that complex spectra can be represented at the level of the auditory nerve by a rate-CF code over the dynamic range of hearing. The analysis also indicates, however, a substantial discrepancy between the psychophysical data on the dependence of discrimination thresholds on level and the predicted discrimination behavior of a representative population of auditory nerve fibers. Thus, if intensity coding is based on localized firing rate, this fundamental psychophysical behavior does not result solely from peripheral processes.
关于强度辨别力的心理物理学数据表明，某些模式不太可能作为听神经层面的一般强度编码，并且间接表明最有可能的编码是基于频率定位的纤维群的发放率。对基于发放率的强度编码的检测理论分析表明，如果信息得到适当组合，即使在高强度下，来自极少数纤维的信息也能解释心理物理学辨别力。这表明具有相似特征频率（CF）的纤维可以在很宽的范围内编码强度，并且复杂频谱可以在听神经层面通过在听觉动态范围内的发放率-特征频率编码来表示。然而，该分析还表明，关于辨别阈值对强度的依赖性的心理物理学数据与听神经纤维代表性群体的预测辨别行为之间存在很大差异。因此，如果强度编码基于局部发放率，这种基本的心理物理学行为并非仅由外周过程导致。
