Opponent Coding of Sound Location (Azimuth) in Planum Temporale is Robust to Sound-Level Variations.

ABSTRACT: Coding of sound location in auditory cortex (AC) is only partially understood. Recent electrophysiological research suggests that neurons in mammalian auditory cortex are characterized by broad spatial tuning and a preference for the contralateral hemifield, that is, a nonuniform sampling of sound azimuth. Additionally, spatial selectivity decreases with increasing sound intensity. To accommodate these findings, it has been proposed that sound location is encoded by the integrated activity of neuronal populations with opposite hemifield tuning ("opponent channel model"). In this study, we investigated the validity of such a model in human AC with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and a phase-encoding paradigm employing binaural stimuli recorded individually for each participant.

SUBMITTER: Derey K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4677988 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature