scholarly journals Inhibition in the balance: binaurally coupled inhibitory feedback in sound localization circuitry

2011 ◽  
Vol 106 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Michael Burger ◽  
Iwao Fukui ◽  
Harunori Ohmori ◽  
Edwin W. Rubel

Interaural time differences (ITDs) are the primary cue animals, including humans, use to localize low-frequency sounds. In vertebrate auditory systems, dedicated ITD processing neural circuitry performs an exacting task, the discrimination of microsecond differences in stimulus arrival time at the two ears by coincidence-detecting neurons. These neurons modulate responses over their entire dynamic range to sounds differing in ITD by mere hundreds of microseconds. The well-understood function of this circuitry in birds has provided a fruitful system to investigate how inhibition contributes to neural computation at the synaptic, cellular, and systems level. Our recent studies in the chicken have made significant progress in bringing together many of these findings to provide a cohesive picture of inhibitory function.

2011 ◽  
pp. 573-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. DRAPAL ◽  
P. MARSALEK

Interaural time differences (ITDs), the differences of arrival time of the sound at the two ears, provide a major cue for low-frequency sound localization in the horizontal plane. The first nucleus involved in the computation of ITDs is the medial superior olive (MSO). We have modeled the neural circuit of the MSO using a stochastic description of spike timing. The inputs to the circuit are stochastic spike trains with a spike timing distribution described by a given probability density function (beta density). The outputs of the circuit reproduce the empirical firing rates found in experiment in response to the varying ITD. The outputs of the computational model are calculated numerically and these numerical simulations are also supported by analytical calculations. We formulate a simple hypothesis concerning how sound localization works in mammals. According to this hypothesis, there is no array of delay lines as in the Jeffress’ model, but the inhibitory input is shifted in time as a whole. This is consistent with experimental observations in mammals.


2015 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine E. Carr ◽  
Jakob Christensen-Dalsgaard

In this paper, we compare some of the neural strategies for sound localization and encoding interaural time differences (ITDs) in three predatory species of Reptilia, alligators, barn owls and geckos. Birds and crocodilians are sister groups among the extant archosaurs, while geckos are lepidosaurs. Despite the similar organization of their auditory systems, archosaurs and lizards use different strategies for encoding the ITDs that underlie localization of sound in azimuth. Barn owls encode ITD information using a place map, which is composed of neurons serving as labeled lines tuned for preferred spatial locations, while geckos may use a meter strategy or population code composed of broadly sensitive neurons that represent ITD via changes in the firing rate.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0271678X2097858
Author(s):  
Jinxia (Fiona) Yao ◽  
Ho-Ching (Shawn) Yang ◽  
James H Wang ◽  
Zhenhu Liang ◽  
Thomas M Talavage ◽  
...  

Elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) in breathing air is widely used as a vasoactive stimulus to assess cerebrovascular functions under hypercapnia (i.e., “stress test” for the brain). Blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) is a contrast mechanism used in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). BOLD is used to study CO2-induced cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR), which is defined as the voxel-wise percentage BOLD signal change per mmHg change in the arterial partial pressure of CO2 (PaCO2). Besides the CVR, two additional important parameters reflecting the cerebrovascular functions are the arrival time of arterial CO2 at each voxel, and the waveform of the local BOLD signal. In this study, we developed a novel analytical method to accurately calculate the arrival time of elevated CO2 at each voxel using the systemic low frequency oscillations (sLFO: 0.01-0.1 Hz) extracted from the CO2 challenge data. In addition, 26 candidate hemodynamic response functions (HRF) were used to quantitatively describe the temporal brain reactions to a CO2 stimulus. We demonstrated that our approach improved the traditional method by allowing us to accurately map three perfusion-related parameters: the relative arrival time of blood, the hemodynamic response function, and CVR during a CO2 challenge.


Author(s):  
Rasmus Trock Kinnerup ◽  
Arnold Knott ◽  
Ole Cornelius Thomsen ◽  
Kresten Marbjerg ◽  
Per Rasmussen

Measuring infrasonic sound sets high requirements on the instruments used. Typically the measurement chain consists of a microphone and a preamplifier. As the input resistance of the preamplifier forms a high pass filter with the capacitance of the microphone in the picofarad range, measuring ultra low frequencies becomes a challenge. The electric preamplifier presented in this paper together with a prepolarized condenser microphone form a measurement system. The developed preamplifier connects the microphone signal directly to the input of an operational amplifier with ultra high input impedance. The bias current for the preamplifier further complicates the signal amplification. A configuration of two diode-connected FETs provide the input bias current. The resulting input impedance of nearly 1 TΩ yields a total lower limiting −3 dB cutoff frequency of 8 mHz and a dynamic range of 95 dB. Being able to measure down to ultra low frequencies in the infrasonic frequency range will aid actors in the debate on wind turbine noise. Sonic booms from supersonic flights include frequencies down to 10 mHz and the preamplifier proposed in this paper will aid scientists trying to modify the N-shaped shock wave at high level which prohibits flights in land zones.


2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Pindor ◽  
J. S. B. Wyithe ◽  
D. A. Mitchell ◽  
S. M. Ord ◽  
R. B. Wayth ◽  
...  

AbstractBright point sources associated with extragalactic active galactic nuclei and radio galaxies are an important foreground for low-frequency radio experiments aimed at detecting the redshifted 21-cm emission from neutral hydrogen during the epoch of reionization. The frequency dependence of the synthesized beam implies that the sidelobes of these sources will move across the field of view as a function of observing frequency, hence frustrating line-of-sight foreground subtraction techniques. We describe a method for subtracting these point sources from dirty maps produced by an instrument such as the MWA. This technique combines matched filters with an iterative centroiding scheme to locate and characterize point sources in the presence of a diffuse background. Simulations show that this technique can improve the dynamic range of epoch-of-reionization maps by 2—3 orders of magnitude.


eLife ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antje Ihlefeld ◽  
Nima Alamatsaz ◽  
Robert M Shapley

Human sound localization is an important computation performed by the brain. Models of sound localization commonly assume that sound lateralization from interaural time differences is level invariant. Here we observe that two prevalent theories of sound localization make opposing predictions. The labelled-line model encodes location through tuned representations of spatial location and predicts that perceived direction is level invariant. In contrast, the hemispheric-difference model encodes location through spike-rate and predicts that perceived direction becomes medially biased at low sound levels. Here, behavioral experiments find that softer sounds are perceived closer to midline than louder sounds, favoring rate-coding models of human sound localization. Analogously, visual depth perception, which is based on interocular disparity, depends on the contrast of the target. The similar results in hearing and vision suggest that the brain may use a canonical computation of location: encoding perceived location through population spike rate relative to baseline.


Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (23) ◽  
pp. 2931
Author(s):  
Waldemar Jendernalik ◽  
Jacek Jakusz ◽  
Grzegorz Blakiewicz

Buffer-based CMOS filters are maximally simplified circuits containing as few transistors as possible. Their applications, among others, include nano to micro watt biomedical sensors that process physiological signals of frequencies from 0.01 Hz to about 3 kHz. The order of a buffer-based filter is not greater than two. Hence, to obtain higher-order filters, a cascade of second-order filters is constructed. In this paper, a more general method for buffer-based filter synthesis is developed and presented. The method uses RLC ladder prototypes to obtain filters of arbitrary orders. In addition, a set of novel circuit solutions with ultra-low voltage and power are proposed. The introduced circuits were synthesized and simulated using 180-nm CMOS technology of X-FAB. One of the designed circuits is a fourth-order, low-pass filter that features: 100-Hz passband, 0.4-V supply voltage, power consumption of less than 5 nW, and dynamic range above 60 dB. Moreover, the total capacitance of the proposed filter (31 pF) is 25% lower compared to the structure synthesized using a conventional cascade method (40 pF).


Author(s):  
V. M. Lipka ◽  
V. V. Ryukhtin ◽  
Yu. G. Dobrovolsky

Measurement of periodic optical information signals in the background light noise with a photodetector with extended dynamic range is an urgent task of modern electronics and thus has become the aim of this study. To increase the dynamic range of the photodetector, a new version of the automatic gain control (AGC) circuit has been developed, which consists of an AGC controller, an output photodetector amplifier and an AGC detector. The authors measured the dynamic range of the photodetector when receiving optical radiation with a wavelength of 1064 nm in the power range from 2.10–8 to 2.10–5 W at a modulation frequency of 20 kHz with the AGC on. Under these conditions, the dynamic range of the photodetector was found to be up to 67 dB. If the AGC was off, the dynamic range did not exceed 30 dB. Thus, the study made it possible to create a photodetector with an extended dynamic range up to 67 dB based on a new version of the AGC circuit. The design of the photodetector allowed choosing a useful signal of a particular modulation frequency in the frequency range from 3 to 45 kHz and effectively suppresses the frequencies caused by optical interference in the low frequency range from the frequency of the input signal of constant amplitude up to 3 kHz inclusive. This compensates the current up to 15 mA, which is equivalent to the power of light interference of about 15 mW. Further research should address the issues of reliability of the proposed photodetector design and optimization of its optical system. The photodetector can be used in geodesy and ambient air quality monitoring.


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