Dynamic characteristics of central auditory neurons and their relation to selective-combination mechanisms of organization of brain functions.

Unit responses of the torus and caudal neostriatum of hens to stimuli of differing ecological significance (pure tones, white noise, species-specific stimuli) were investigated. The range of frequencies receivable by central auditory neurons was shown to correspond to the frequency composition of the stimuli emitted by the animals. Neurons selectively responding to species-specific stimuli (song, alarm signals) were found in the forebrain. The specific character of the functional organization at different levels of the auditory system is examined in the light of the selective-combination principle of stimulus integration, which may lie at the basis of the mechanism of both inborn and acquired memory.