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Updated: Nov 9, 2025

Data Acquisition and Analysis In Brainstem Evoked Response Audiometry In Mice
Published on: May 10, 2019
Emergence of abstract sound representations in the ascending auditory system
Mor Harpaz1, Maciej M Jankowski1, Leila Khouri1
1Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences (ELSC), The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
Abstract:
Auditory processing begins by decomposing sounds into their frequency components, raising the question of where the representation of sounds as wholes emerges in the auditory system. To address this question, we used stimulus-specific adaptation (SSA), the reduction in the responses of a neuron to a common sound (standard) which does not generalize to another, rare sound (deviant). SSA to tone frequency has been demonstrated in multiple stations of the auditory pathway, including the inferior colliculus (IC), medial geniculate body (MGB) and auditory cortex. We designed wideband stimuli (tone clouds) that have identical frequency components but are nevertheless distinct. Tone clouds evoked early and substantial SSA in primary auditory cortex (A1) but only late and minor SSA in IC and MGB. These results imply that while in IC and MGB sounds are largely represented in terms of their frequency components, in A1 they are represented as abstract entities.
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