Towards a Blueprint

In this chapter we propose to review recent developments and to establish an achievable research agenda for developing VLSI models of auditory signal processing in the mammalian brainstem. Considerable progress can be reported for models of the transduction of acoustic signals into the electrical response of auditory nerve fibres. A useful start has also been made in developing circuits to represent individual nerve cells similar to those found in the auditory brainstem. Only tentative beginnings have been made in the construction of massively parallel circuits to represent the activity of large ensembles of auditory nerve cells but these are enough to establish the feasibility of the enterprise. This progress in the field of electronic modelling capability has been accompanied by a substantial increase in our knowledge of the detailed functioning of individual nerve cells in the early stages of the auditory signal processing system. The time is therefore right for a substantial investment of effort in the development of these new modelling technologies.