Skrandies W, Rammsayer T
Institute of Physiology, Justus-Liebig University, Giessen, Germany.
Biol Psychol. 1995 Jun;40(3):267-80. doi: 10.1016/0301-0511(95)05119-u.
The processing and perception of auditory signals depends on the temporal structure of stimulus characteristics. We studied 26 healthy subjects who participated in psychophysical experiments and in electrophysiological recordings of auditory evoked potentials from C2, C3, C4, T3 and T4. Stimuli consisted of tone series presented binaurally as tones or gaps with a base duration of 100 ms. In the psychophysical experiments, difference thresholds as indicators of temporal discrimination performance were significantly lower for tones than for gaps. In the electrophysiological recordings, gaps often failed to elicit N100 components. Tones produced shortest component latencies with largest amplitudes. In addition, brain activity was strongest at C2, and showed a symmetrical fall-off over both hemispheres. N100 components had significantly longer latencies and smaller amplitudes when they were evoked by the end of the gap (i.e. with the continuation of the tone) than by tones. Our data illustrate how the temporal structure of auditory stimuli affects neuronal responses of the brain. Similar effects were observed in psychophysical and electrophysiological experiments, and we were able to demonstrate a direct relationship between subjective sensory thresholds and auditory evoked brain activity.
听觉信号的处理与感知取决于刺激特征的时间结构。我们研究了26名健康受试者，他们参与了心理物理学实验以及从C2、C3、C4、T3和T4记录听觉诱发电位的电生理实验。刺激由双耳呈现的音调序列组成，音调或间隙的基本持续时间为100毫秒。在心理物理学实验中，作为时间辨别性能指标的差异阈值在音调情况下显著低于间隙情况。在电生理记录中，间隙常常无法引出N100成分。音调产生的成分潜伏期最短且振幅最大。此外，大脑活动在C2处最强，并在两个半球呈对称减弱。当由间隙末尾（即音调持续时）引出N100成分时，其潜伏期显著更长且振幅更小，而由音调引出时则不然。我们的数据说明了听觉刺激的时间结构如何影响大脑的神经元反应。在心理物理学和电生理实验中观察到了类似的效应，并且我们能够证明主观感觉阈值与听觉诱发的大脑活动之间存在直接关系。
