Competing Sound Sources Reveal Spatial Effects in Cortical Processing

Maddox, Ross K.; Billimoria, Cyrus P.; Perrone, Ben P.; Shinn‐Cunningham, Barbara; Sen, Kamal

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001319

Cited by 38 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Importantly, our stimuli were two spectro-temporally complex stimuli chosen so that their various components would strongly bind to one of two perceptual objects. Similarly, in the work in avian field-L discussed above, spatial modulation of song identity was the dependent variable (Maddox et al 2012). In the cat, it was the preferential tuning to one of two concurrent streams of rhythmic stimuli that was modulated by their relative location (Middlebrooks and Bremen 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The picture appears to be very different using multiple, concurrent complex stimuli and various information-based approaches to analyze single-unit responses. For instance, in the avian field-L (homologue of the auditory cortex), song identification is strongly modulated by the relative location of a concurrent masker (Maddox et al 2012). At a population level, the resulting spatial unmasking of the target approaches what can be demonstrated behaviorally (Best et al 2005).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Six Degrees of Auditory Spatial Separation

Carlile

Fox

Orchard-Mills

et al. 2016

JARO

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The location of a sound is derived computationally from acoustical cues rather than being inherent in the topography of the input signal, as in vision. Since Lord Rayleigh, the descriptions of that representation have swung between Blabeled line^and Bopponent process^models. Employing a simple variant of a twopoint separation judgment using concurrent speech sounds, we found that spatial discrimination thresholds changed nonmonotonically as a function of the overall separation. Rather than increasing with separation, spatial discrimination thresholds first declined as two-point separation increased before reaching a turning point and increasing thereafter with further separation. This Bdipper^function, with a minimum at 6°of separation, was seen for regions around the midline as well as for more lateral regions (30 and 45°). The discrimination thresholds for the binaural localization cues were linear over the same range, so these cannot explain the shape of these functions. These data and a simple computational model indicate that the perception of auditory space involves a local code or multichannel mapping emerging subsequent to the binaural cue coding.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Six Degrees of Auditory Spatial Separation

Carlile

Fox

Orchard-Mills

et al. 2016

JARO

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“…First, we found that the auditory telencephalon of zebra finches responds preferentially to stimulation from the contralateral auditory hemifield. This is consistent with: 1) Findings in L2 of head-fixed non-songbirds hearing sounds (owls (Cohen & Knudsen, 1998), chicks (Scheich, 1983), and doves (Biederman-Thorson, 1970)); 2) the ascending auditory pathway in zebra finches which shows a predominantly contralateral projection from the brain stem nuclei to the midbrain and ipsilateral from there to the forebrain (Wild, Krützfeldt, & Kubke, 2010); 3) reduction in contralateral hearing-induced EGR-1 expression response after plugging one ear during song playback (Feenders et al, 2008); and 4) the improved ability to distinguish a target from a masking stimulus if the target is presented on the contralateral side and the masker on the ipsilateral side compared to the opposite scenario (Maddox, Billimoria, Perrone, Shinn-Cunningham, & Sen, 2012). It is also similar to the mammalian auditory system (Glendenning, Baker, Hutson, & Masterton, 1992).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Different mechanisms are responsible for dishabituation of electrophysiological auditory responses to a change in acoustic identity than to a change in stimulus location

Smulders¹,

Jarvis²

2013

Neurobiology of Learning and Memory

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Repeated exposure to an auditory stimulus leads to habituation of the electrophysiological and immediate-early-gene (IEG) expression response in the auditory system. A novel auditory stimulus reinstates this response in a form of dishabituation. This has been interpreted as the start of new memory formation for this novel stimulus. Changes in the location of an otherwise identical auditory stimulus can also dishabituate the IEG expression response. This has been interpreted as an integration of stimulus identity and stimulus location into a single auditory object, encoded in the firing patterns of the auditory system. In this study, we further tested this hypothesis. Using chronic multi-electrode arrays to record multi-unit activity from the auditory system of awake and behaving zebra finches, we found that habituation occurs to repeated exposure to the same song and dishabituation with a novel song, similar to that described in head-fixed, restrained animals. A large proportion of recording sites also showed dishabituation when the same auditory stimulus was moved to a novel location. However, when the song was randomly moved among 8 interleaved locations, habituation occurred independently of the continuous changes in location. In contrast, when 8 different auditory stimuli were interleaved all from the same location, a separate habituation occurred to each stimulus. This result suggests that neuronal memories of the acoustic identity and spatial location are different, and that allocentric location of a stimulus is not encoded as part of the memory for an auditory object, while its acoustic properties are. We speculate that, instead, the dishabituation that occurs with a change from a stable location of a sound is due to the unexpectedness of the location change, and might be due to different underlying mechanisms than the dishabituation and separate habituations to different acoustic stimuli.

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“…In nature, these different sounds can come from spatially separated sources and spatial information could thus be used to further enhance discrimination (Bee, 2008;Dent et al, 2009;Maddox et al, 2012). A full recognition task in the natural context might also combine the tasks of discriminating one particular individual and determining its spatial location, i.e.…”

Section: Research Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

Learning to cope with degraded sounds: Female zebra finches can improve their expertise at discriminating between male voices at long distance

Mouterde

Elie

Theunissen

et al. 2014

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Reliable transmission of acoustic information about individual identity is of critical importance for pair bond maintenance in numerous monogamous songbirds. However, information transfer can be impaired by environmental constraints such as external noise or propagation-induced degradation. Birds have been shown to use several adaptive strategies to deal with difficult signal transmission contexts. Specifically, a number of studies have suggested that vocal plasticity at the emitter's level allows birds to counteract the deleterious effects of sound degradation. Although the communication process involves both the emitter and the receiver, perceptual plasticity at the receiver's level has received little attention. Here, we explored the reliability of individual recognition by female zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), testing whether perceptual training can improve discrimination of degraded individual vocal signatures. We found that female zebra finches are proficient in discriminating between calls of individual males at long distances, and even more so when they can train themselves with increasingly degraded signals over time. In this latter context, females succeed in discriminating between males as far as 250 m. This result emphasizes that adaptation to adverse communication conditions may involve not only the emitter's vocal plasticity but also the receptor's decoding process through on-going learning.

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Competing Sound Sources Reveal Spatial Effects in Cortical Processing

Abstract: Neurons in the avian auditory forebrain show strong sensitivity to the spatial configuration of two competing sources, even though there is only weak spatial dependence for any single source.

Cited by 38 publications

References 35 publications

Six Degrees of Auditory Spatial Separation

Six Degrees of Auditory Spatial Separation

Different mechanisms are responsible for dishabituation of electrophysiological auditory responses to a change in acoustic identity than to a change in stimulus location

Learning to cope with degraded sounds: Female zebra finches can improve their expertise at discriminating between male voices at long distance

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