Statistical and receiver operating characteristic analysis of empirical spike-count distributions: Quantifying the ability of cochlear nucleus units to signal intensity changes
- 1 December 1989
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Acoustical Society of America (ASA) in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
- Vol. 86 (6), 2172-2184
- https://doi.org/10.1121/1.398478
Abstract
Analytical methods from signal detection theory were applied in an effort to quanify the ability of cochlear nucleus (CN) units to signal changes in intensity. Of particular interest was the relation between this ability and the different patterns of discharge that characterize auditory neurons. Single-unit responses to best-frequency (BF) tone bursts were recorded from neurons in the gerbil cochlear nucleus, and empirical spike-count distributions were generated. The mean-to-variance ratios for regular units were generally larger than those of irregular units. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated from empirical spike-count distributions. The area under the ROC curve [P(A)] was computed and used to define the performance of an observer detecting whether or not a change in firing rate has occurred, thus signaling a change in intensity. For a given change in mean spike count, units characterized by regular interspike-interval (ISI) histograms typically gave larger P(A) values than did units characterized by irregular ISI histograms. In addition, onset units gave larger values of P(A) than did irregular units for a given change in mean spike count. These results suggest that regular and onset units are better able to signal intensity changes than are irregular units.This publication has 22 references indexed in Scilit:
- Auditory nerve representation of vowels in background noiseJournal of Neurophysiology, 1983
- Physiological response properties of cells labeled intracellularly with horseradish peroxidase in cat ventral cochlear nucleusJournal of Comparative Neurology, 1983
- The statistical reliability of signals in single neurons in cat and monkey visual cortexVision Research, 1983
- Anatomy and physiology of the gerbil cochlear nucleus: An improved surgical approach for microelectrode studiesHearing Research, 1982
- A model for discharge patterns of primary auditory-nerve fibersBrain Research, 1981
- A neural-counting model incorporating refractoriness and spread of excitation. I. Application to intensity discriminationThe Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1979
- The Information Capacity of Nerve Cells Using a Frequency CodeBiophysical Journal, 1967
- Neuronal Spike Trains and Stochastic Point ProcessesBiophysical Journal, 1967
- THE VARIABILITY OF CENTRAL NEURAL ACTIVITY IN A SENSORY SYSTEM, AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE CENTRAL REFLECTION OF SENSORY EVENTSJournal of Neurophysiology, 1963
- THE STATISTICAL DETECTION OF THRESHOLD SIGNALS IN THE RETINAThe Journal of general physiology, 1957