Intensity Characteristics of Mechanoreceptors

According to recent detailed recordings of neural firing rates, the intensity characteristics of auditory and other mechanoreceptors closely approximate the input‐output function of an rms detector. This becomes particularly clearly evident when the stimulus consists of a sinusoid added to random noise. The characteristic remains the same for both extrinsic and intrinsic noise. It can be expressed by means of a simple equation that contains no free constants. The rms properties of auditory receptors appear to be reflected in psychophysical experiments that deal with monaural and central masking, signal detection as a function of duration, and loudness. In spite of great similarities, the mechanoreceptors should not be considered as true rms detectors, since they show some phase sensitivity. The difference can be ignored, however, under many experimental conditions.