Response Pattern Complexity Of Auditory Cells In Cortex Of Unanesthetized Monkeys

Complex temporal response patterns of neurons in auditory cortex were studied in unanesthetized, alert monkeys under controlled behavioral conditions. Responses to various frequencies and intensities of pure tones and various intensities of white noise stimuli were studied. Approximately 48% of the cells studied exhibited multiple, temporally discrete response components. In about one-third of these cells the temporally discrete components varied independently of one another in their response to changes in stimulus parameters. These observations bear on questions of the structural and functional organization of the auditory system and neural coding.