Abstract
Frequency tuning curves were obtained using a tone-tone simultaneous masking paradigm in conjunction with the evoked potential recording. The masker was a continuous tone and the test was a sinusoidal amplitude-modulated (SAM) tonal signal, which evoked the envelope following response (EFR). The EFR was recorded in unanaesthetized animals from a head surface with the use of suction-cup electrodes. The obtained tuning curves featured very sharp tuning with Q(ERB) (quality estimated by the equivalent rectangular bandwidth) from 35 in Tursiops truncatus to nearly 50 in Delphinapterus leucas. This acuteness is several times better than in humans and many animals. The Q(ERB) dependence on probe frequency could be approximated by regression lines with a slope from 0.18 in Tursiops trucatus to 0.83–0.86 in Phocoena phocoena and Neophocoena phocoenoides. Thus, the frequency representation in the odontocete auditory system may be either near constant quality (in Tursiops) or near constant bandwidth (in porpoises). [Work supported by The Russian Foundation for Basic Research and Russian President Grant.]
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