MOVE

Population spikes in a model of primary auditory cortex

We propose a model of the primary auditory cortex (A1), in which each iso-frequency column is represented by a recurrent neural network with short-term synaptic depression. Such networks can emit Population Spikes, in which most of the neu-rons in a column fire synchronously for a short time period. Population spikes can propagate along the cortex from one column to the next, in a temporally precise manner that depends on the specific input presented to the network. The network, therefore, processes incoming sounds by precise sequences of population spikes that are embedded in a continu-ous asynchronous activity, with both of these response components carrying information about the inputs and interacting with each other. We further propose that spatio-temporal organization of population spike activity represents the formation of coherent auditory percepts that are distinct from the background auditory scene.