Summary
The responses of single units in the superior temporal gyrus of awake squirrel monkeys to tone pips, noise, clicks, and frequency-modulated sounds were recorded with extracellular microelectrodes. A majority of the units responded to acoustic stimulation, pure tone pips being the most effective in terms of the percentage of units responding (71%). No simple catalogue of response types could be elicited. Units varied in terms of the combinations of stimuli to which they were responsive, the frequency range over which pure tones were effective, and the temporal pattern of discharge to different frequencies and different types of stimuli. A substantial majority of units gave precise timed responses to the onset or offset of the stimuli, while a few introduced long delays between the stimulus and the response. With regard to the area studied, acoustic units could be found between stereotaxic coordinates A3 and A10, both on the lateral surface of the hemisphere and in the superior temporal plane, as well as in the caudal insular region. No precise tonotopic organization could be discerned.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abeles, M., Goldstein, M.H. Jr.: Functional architecture in cat primary auditory cortex: Columnar organization and organization according to depth. J. Neurophysiol. 33, 172 (1970)
Brugge, J.F., Merzenich, M.M.: Representation of frequency in auditory cortex in the Macaque monkey. In: M. Sachs (ed.). The Physiology of the Auditory System. Baltimore: Nat'l. Educ. Cons. 1972
Butler, R.A., Diamond, I.T., Neff, W.D.: Role of auditory cortex in discrimination of changes in frequency. J. Neurophysiol. 20, 108 (1957)
Butterfield, B.O., Goldstein, J.H., Jr.: An on-line display of single-unit data. IEEE Trans. Bio-Med. Eng. BME 13, 160 (1966)
Dewson, J.H.: Speech sound discrimination by cats. Science 144, 555 (1964)
—, Pribram, K.H., Lynch, J.C.: Effects of ablations of temporal cortex upon speech sound discrimination in the monkey. Exp. Neurol. 24, 579 (1969)
Diamond, I.T., Goldberg, J.M., Neff, W.D.: Tonal discrimination after ablation of auditory cortex. J. Neurophysiol. 25, 223 (1962)
—, Neff, W.D.: Ablation of temporal cortex and discrimination of auditory patterns. J. Neurophysiol. 20, 300 (1957)
Erulkar, S.D., Rose, J.E., Davies, P.W.: Single unit activity in the auditory cortex of the cat. Johns Hopk. Hosp. Bull. 99, 55 (1956)
Evans, E.F., Ross, H.E., Whitfield, I.C.: The spatial distribution of unit characteristic frequency in the primary auditory cortex of the cat. J. Physiol. (Lond.) 179, 238 (1965)
—, Whitfield, I.C.: Classification of unit responses in the auditory cortex of the unanesthetized and unrestrained cat. J. Physiol. (Lond.) 171, 476 (1964)
Evarts, E.V.: Methods for recording activity of individual neurons in moving animals. In: R.E. Rushmer (ed.). Methods in Medical Research, pp. 241–250. Chicago: Year Book Medical Publishers 1966
— A technique for recording activity of subcortical neurons in moving animals. Electroenceph. clin. Neurophysiol. 24, 83 (1968)
Feher, O., Whitfield, I.C.: Auditory cortical units which respond to complex tonal stimuli. J. Physiol. (Lond.) 182, 39 (1966)
Funkenstein, H.H., Winter, P., Nelson, P.G.: Unit responses to acoustic stimuli in the cortex of awake squirrel monkeys. Fed. Proc. 29, 394A (1970)
Gerstein, G.L., Kiang, N.Y.-S.: Responses of single units in the auditory cortex. Exp. Neurol. 10, 1 (1964)
Goldstein, M.H., Jr.: Single unit studies of cortical coding of simple acoustic stimuli. In: E.D. Carlson (ed.) Physiological and Behavioral Aspects of Nervous Integration. pp. 131–151. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall 1968
Goldstein, M.H., Jr., Abeles, M., Daly, R.L., McIntosh, J.: Functional architecture in cat primary auditory cortex: Tonotopic organization. J. Neurophysiol. 33, 188 (1970)
—, Hall, J.L. II, Butterfield, B.O.: Single unit activity in the primary auditory cortex of unanesthetized cats. JASA 33, 444 (1968)
Hall, J.L.II, Goldstein, M.H., Jr.: Representation of binaural stimuli by single units in primary auditory cortex of unanesthetized cats. JASA 33, 456 (1968)
Hind, J.E.: Unit activity in the auditory cortex. Chapter 14. In: Neural Mechanisms of the Auditory and Vestibular Systems. Ed. by G.L. Rasmussen and W.F. Windle. Springfield: Thomas 1960
Hubel, D.H., Wiesel, T.N.: Receptive fields, binocular interaction and functional architecture in the cat's visual cortex. J. Physiol. (Lond.) 160, 106 (1962)
Katsuki, Y., Murata, K., Suga, N., Takenaka, T.: Single unit activity in the auditory cortex of unanesthetized monkeys. Proc. Jap. Acad. 36, 435 (1960)
—, Watanabe, T., Maruyama, M.: Activity of auditory neurons in upper levels of brain of cat. J. Neurophysiol. 22, 343 (1959)
Kennedy, T.K.: An electrophysiological study of the auditory projection areas of the cortex in monkey (Macaca mulatta). Doctoral Dissertation, U. of Chicago 1955
Kiang, N. Y.-S., Watanabe, T., Thomas, E.C., Clark, L.F.: Discharge Patterns of Single Fibers in the Cat's Auditory Nerve, M.I.T. Research Monographs No. 34. Cambridge: Technology Press 1965
—, Sandel, T.T.: Off-responses from the auditory cortex of unanesthetized cats. Arch. ital. Biol. 99, 121 (1961)
MacLean, P.D.: A chronically fixed stereotaxic device for intracerebral exploration with macro and microelectrodes. Electroenceph. clin. Neurophysiol. 22, 180 (1967)
Massopoust, L.C., Jr., Wolin, L.R., Kadoya, S.: Evoked responses in the auditory cortex of the squirrel monkey. Exp. Neurol. 21, 35 (1968)
Masterson, R.B., Diamond, LT.: Effects of auditory cortex ablation on discrimination of small binaural time differences. J. Neurophysiol. 27, 15 (1984)
Mountcastle, V.B.: Modality and topographic properties of single neurons of cat's somatic sensory cortex. J. Neurophysiol. 20, 408 (1957)
Neff, W.D., Fisher, J.F., Diamond, LT., Yela, M.: Role of auditory cortex in discrimination requiring localization of sound in space. J. Neurophysiol. 19, 500 (1956)
Oonishi, S., Katsuki, Y.: Functional organization and integrative mechanism of the auditory cortex of the cat. Jap. J. Physiol. 15, 342 (1965)
Raab, D.H., Ades, H.W.: Cortical and midbrain mediation of a conditioned discrimination of acoustic intensities. Amer. J. Psychol. 59, 59(1946)
Rose, J.E., Woolsey, C.N.: The relations of thalamic connections, cellular structure and evokable electrical activity in the auditory region of the cat. J. comp. Neurol. 91, 441 (1949)
Sandel, T.T., Kiang, N. Y.-S.: Off-responses from the auditory cortex of anesthetized cats: effects of stimulus parameters. Arch. ital. Biol. 99, 105 (1961)
Suga, N.: Functional properties of auditory neurons in the cortex of echo-locating bats. J. Physiol. (Lond.) 181, 671 (1965)
Whitfield, I.C.: Responses of auditory cortical neurons to complex sound stimuli. Final Tech. Rept. DA-91-591-EUC-3636, U.S. Army, 1966
—, Evans, E.F.: Responses of auditory cortical neurons to stimuli of changing frequency. J. Neurophysiol. 28, 655 (1965)
Winter, P., Funkenstein, H.H.: The auditory cortex of the squirrel monkey: Neuronal discharge patterns to auditory stimuli. Proc. 3rd Int. Congr. Primat., Zurich 1970, 2, 24 (1971)
Wolbarsht, M.L., MacNichol, E.F., Jr., Wagner, H.G.: Glass insulated platinum microelectrode. Science 132, 1309 (1960)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Peter Winter died in a skiing accident in March, 1972.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Funkenstein, H.H., Winter, P. Responses to acoustic stimuli of units in the auditory cortex of awake squirrel monkeys. Exp Brain Res 18, 464–488 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00234132
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00234132