Abstract
Paraphrasing Lord Kelvin, “If you can’t make a model, you didn’t understand.” Conceptual models of the neuronal circuitry within the auditory brainstem have been around for a long time. With the advent of supercomputers and the ubiquity of laptops, computational modeling these days is relatively common.
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Abbreviations
- 2D:
-
two-dimensional
- AM:
-
amplitude-modulated
- AN:
-
auditory nerve
- AVCN:
-
anteroventral cochlear nucleus
- b K , B :
-
sensitivity to potassium conductance
- BBN:
-
broad-band noise
- BF:
-
best frequency
- BW:
-
bandwidth
- BWA→B :
-
bandwidth of cell group A sending connections to cell B
- c:
-
threshold sensitivity (0–1)
- chop-S:
-
chopper-sustained
- chop-T:
-
chopper-transient
- CA→B :
-
center frequency offset from cell group A to cell B
- CN:
-
cochlear nucleus
- dB SPL:
-
decibels sound pressure level
- DCN:
-
dorsal cochlear nucleus
- DSI:
-
depolarization-induced suppression of inhibition
- E:
-
neuron transmembrane potential
- Eex :
-
excitatory reversal potential
- Ein :
-
inhibitory reversal potential
- E K , EK :
-
potassium reversal potential
- ES:
-
prior soma potential
- g A→B :
-
conductance of the synaptic connection from cell A to B
- gex :
-
normalized excitatory synaptic conductance
- gin :
-
normalized inhibitory synaptic conductance
- gk :
-
normalized potassium conductance
- G:
-
resting conductance
- Gex :
-
excitatory synaptic conductance
- Gin :
-
inhibitory synaptic conductance
- G k , GK :
-
potassium conductance
- HRP:
-
horseradish peroxidase
- HRTF:
-
head-related transfer function
- Ih :
-
a Ca+-sensitive, hyperpolarization-activated inward rectifier
- I–V:
-
current-voltage
- I2-cells:
-
inhibitory interneurons with type II unit RMs
- ISIH:
-
interspike interval histogram
- KLT :
-
low-threshold K+
- LTD:
-
long-term depression
- LTP:
-
long-term potentiation
- N A→B :
-
number of cell A connections to cell B
- On:
-
Onset
- On-C:
-
onset-chopper
- On-I:
-
ideal onset
- On-L:
-
onset with late activity
- P-cells:
-
principal cells
- PL:
-
Primarylike
- Pri-N:
-
primarylike-with-notch
- PS:
-
potential in soma
- PSTH:
-
peristimulus time histogram
- PVCN:
-
posterioventral cochlear nucleus
- R–C:
-
resistance-capacitance
- RM:
-
response map
- S:
-
spiking variable indicating whether a cell has fired
- SA :
-
input spike from cell A
- SpAc:
-
spontaneous activity
- SC:
-
magnitude of step current injected into a point neuron
- SCN:
-
the input current
- SR:
-
spontaneous rate
- TGK:
-
refractory time constant
- TH:
-
neuron threshold
- TH0:
-
initial neuron threshold
- TMEM:
-
membrane time constant
- TTH:
-
time constant for accommodation
- VCN:
-
ventral cochlear nucleus
- Vm :
-
membrane potential relative to rest
- W-cells:
-
wideband inhibitors
- θ:
-
spike threshold voltage
- σ:
-
conductance step
- σ A→B :
-
the connection strength from cell A to cell B
- τ:
-
time constant
- τ A→B :
-
time constant of synaptic connection from cell A to cell B
- τK :
-
potassium time constant
- τ m :
-
membrane time constant
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the intellectual and programming contributions to the DCN computational model by Drs. K. Davis, K. Hancock and T. McMullen, and the financial support over the years by NIH and Boston University’s Hearing Research Center and Biomedical Engineering department.
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Voigt, H.F., Zheng, X. (2010). The Cochlear Nucleus: The New Frontier. In: Meddis, R., Lopez-Poveda, E., Fay, R., Popper, A. (eds) Computational Models of the Auditory System. Springer Handbook of Auditory Research, vol 35. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5934-8_3
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