A computational model of afferent neural activity from the cochlea to the dorsal acoustic stria

The first comprehensive computational model of the precortical mammalian auditory system to include afferent neural processing up to the level of the dorsal acoustic stria (DAS) is described. The model consists of two scissile stages simulating (1) the cochlea and auditory nerve (AN) and (2) the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN). The model derives its input from a 128-channel cochlear filterbank. Cochlear transduction, rectification, logarithmic compression, and two-tone suppression functions are performed at the first stage of the simulation. The 512 artificial neurons employed model the cell at the level of transmembrane potential and have interconnections that follow closely those reported in recent anatomical and physiological studies of the cat AN and DCN. The responses of the model to pure-tone stimuli (at various sound-pressure levels) and noise stimuli (at various levels and bandwidths) are reported in detail and compare well with published results. The model is being used to investigate the representation of initial English stop consonants (differing in voice-onset time) in the DAS; this work is briefly described.