Excitation and suppression of primary auditory fibres in the pigeon

Spike potentials were recorded from single fibres in the auditory nerve of the pigeon. In fibres with recognizable responses to sound, spontaneous activity and properties of responses to tonal stimuli were studied in quiet background conditions. Mean spontaneous rate in the sample of fibres was 35 spikes/s. Tuning of spike response to tones was manifest as a single peak in rate at each sound pressure level (SPL) in the frequency-intensity plane. The majority of fibres showed only excitation of spike rate above spontaneous rate. Post stimulus time histograms (PSTs) in such cases were typical of excitatory responses, previously described in birds and mammals showing pronounced adaptation and post-stimulus suppression of spike rate. In most cases of excitation-only responses, however, slopes of rate functions depended on stimulus frequency. Close to characteristic frequency (CF), slopes tended to decrease with increasing SPL, whereas away from CF, slopes tended to increase with SPL. In a minority of excitation-only responses, slopes of rate functions were parallel. In some fibres, tones adjacent to the response area caused overt suppression of spontaneous firing. For these fibres, the slopes of rate functions were more-strongly frequency-dependent, being negative at low SPL when rate suppression occurred. Suppression of spontaneous activity at low SPL was non-monotonic and quite different from suppression of spike rate at stimulus intensities above rat saturation. In PSTs of suppressed spontaneous activity, rebound occurred at the termination of the tone. The results clarify previous observations of suppression of primary auditory responses in birds. We conclude that responses in the majority of auditory fibres in the pigeon are the product of opposing excitatory and suppressive influences in the cochlea, generated by single tones in quite.