Regional variations of noise-induced changes in operating range in cat AI

Regional differences in spectral integration of neurons in cat primary auditory cortex (AI) suggest that regions differ in effects of background noise on operating characteristics of neurons. Therefore, tone-response threshold, best level (peak-rate intensity), dynamic range, and sharpness of tuning in quiet and in continuous broadband noise were mapped for single neurons along the isofrequency domain of AI. Neurons did not show an excitatory response to the noise. Noise invariably increased the tone-response threshold and best levels. Consequently, the dynamic ranges and receptive fields shifted to higher intensity levels without changes of average sharpness of tuning. These shifts were linearly related to noise level and showed little inter-neuronal variability for neurons in the central, mostly sharply tuned part of AI. In more dorsal and ventral parts of AI, neurons were more variable in tone-response threshold, dynamic range and best level, and no systematic relationship between increase in noise level, threshold increase and best-level increase was observed. We conclude that linear shifts in the operating range of neurons in central AI in the presence of continuous noise backgrounds do not affect other response properties and may relate to the unaltered analysis and representation of spectral components of sounds. In contrast, neurons in dorsal and ventral AI change response properties in a non-predictable way in the presence of noise in accordance with the more complex receptive field properties in those areas.