Cortical interference effects in the cocktail party problem.
Nat Neurosci
; 10(12): 1601-7, 2007 Dec.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-17994016
ABSTRACT
Humans and animals must often discriminate between complex natural sounds in the presence of competing sounds (maskers). Although the auditory cortex is thought to be important in this task, the impact of maskers on cortical discrimination remains poorly understood. We examined neural responses in zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) field L (homologous to primary auditory cortex) to target birdsongs that were embedded in three different maskers (broadband noise, modulated noise and birdsong chorus). We found two distinct forms of interference in the neural responses the addition of spurious spikes occurring primarily during the silent gaps between song syllables and the suppression of informative spikes occurring primarily during the syllables. Both effects systematically degraded neural discrimination as the target intensity decreased relative to that of the masker. The behavioral performance of songbirds degraded in a parallel manner. Our results identify neural interference that could explain the perceptual interference at the heart of the cocktail party problem.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Mascaramento Perceptivo
/
Córtex Auditivo
/
Som
/
Vocalização Animal
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Discriminação Psicológica
/
Neurônios
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Nat Neurosci
Assunto da revista:
NEUROLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
2007
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos