Harmonic analysis of binaural interaction potentials

Abstract

A general response model is proposed which suggests that low frequency tones in masking noise may be a useful test stimulus to differentiate between binaural interaction (BI) responses from various superior olivary complex cell types. The model consists of an element acting on input signals from the cochlear nucleus (CN). For each element the output consists of spontaneous rate (SR), weights A and B (positive for excitation, negative for inhibition) and C (positive for facilitation, negative for occlusion). The response of this model to the application of an acoustic stimulus consisting of a single tone plus an additive background noise to produce input stimuli is considered. It is shown that the magnitude of the 2nd harmonic in the response, according to the model, is proportional to the degree of facilitation or occlusion.<>