Summary
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1.
Auditory stimuli consisting of tape-recorded natural sounds were used in a study of 129 neurons in Field L of the caudal neostriatum in the forebrain of curarized starlings (Sturnus vulgaris).
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2.
An extensive program of stimuli comprising many different signals (109 sound elements) was devised in order to permit identification of even very highly specialized neurons.
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3.
As a rule, the time courses of the neuronal responses parallel those of certain parameters or parameter combinations of the sound stimuli. The responses of a few very specialized neurons, however, did not reflect any distinguishable temporal substructure within the effective sounds.
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4.
64 neuons were examined with respect to the number of stimuli, out of a sample of 80 sound elements, eliciting a response. 24 of these neurons responded to less than 10 of the 80 natural sounds. These include neurons responding only to a single sound or to sounds of a single type.
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5.
30 of the 64 neurons responded most strongly, or exclusively, to sounds of a single type.
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6.
The criterion determining whether a neuron responds to a given sound may be a single parameter, a combination of parameters, or the entire complex of parameters describing the sound.
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Part of the Sonderforschungsbereich 114 (Bionach) Bochum; supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
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Leppelsack, H.J., Vogt, M. Responses of auditory neurons in the forebrain of a songbird to stimulation with species-specific sounds. J. Comp. Physiol. 107, 263–274 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00656737
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00656737