Inhibitory effects in the auditory system with change in stimulus duration

Abstract

1. No direct relationship is found between stimulus duration and duration of unit activity in neurons which show non-monotonic changes in spike activity. In response to stimuli 50 msec or more in duration, the activity of most neurons of this type is limited in time. If short stimuli (1–5 msec) are applied, marked post-stimulus activity is observed. 2. Post-stimulus spike activity of some of the neurons tested was cyclic, i.e., it was organized into a series of discrete bursts of spikes. 3. Among the neurons investigated were some cells which responded only to stimuli 1–5 msec in duration. 4. The character of changes in spike activity of non-monotonic neurons in response to stimuli of different duration suggests that inhibitory influences not only mold the patterns of their spike activity, but also essentially modify their functional characteristics.