Thresholds for primary auditory fibers using statistically defined criteria

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The discharge behavior of auditory-nerve fibers near threshold was investigated in anesthetized cats using low-intensity sinusoidal stimuli presented at the respective characteristic frequencies. Particular attention was paid to fibers with low and medium rates. Estimates of threshold derived from statistically significant increases in discharge rate indicate that the average threshold values for low-spontaneous fibers are only slightly higher (.apprx. 5 dB) than the averages for the corresponding high-spontaneous fibers, with the medium-spontaneous fibers having intermediate averages. The difference between these average values is considerably less than the more than 20-dB difference obtained using threshold criteria based on an absolute increment in discharge rate. The main reason for the difference between the results of the 2 techniques is the fact that the slopes of the rate-intensity functions for the high-spontaneous fibers are considerably steeper near threshold than those for fibers of the other 2 classes. The results are taken as supportive of a recent model of primary-fiber discharge.