Enhanced Processing of Temporal Features of Sounds in Background Noise by Cochlear Nucleus Single Neurons

Sound envelope temporal fluctuations are important for effective processing of biologically-relevant acoustic signals including speech sounds, animal vocalizations, pitch cues, music and sound-source locations. Insights can be gained from previous studies into the nature of how the auditory system processes certain complex sound features. Virtually all of these prior investigations have been carried out utilizing acoustic signals presented in quiet. Representative, key studies will be described that have set the stage for the present investigation. Some of this background has been put forth previously (Frisina et al., 1993).