The response of guinea pig auditory-nerve fibres with high spontaneous discharge rates to increments in intensity

Abstract

We have re-examined the response of auditory-nerve fibres with high spontaneous discharge rates to increments in intensity as a function of the delay of the increment. In agreement with previous studies, the response measured over a relatively long time window (10 ms), emphasising the properties of short-term adaptation, did not decrease with the delay of the increment. However, the response to an increment in intensity, measured over a short time window (0.64 ms), was significantly larger when the increment was coincident with the stimulus onset than when it was delayed by either 5, 10 or 15 ms.