The neural basis for robust speech perception exhibited by human listeners (e.g., across sound levels or background noises) remains unknown. The encoding of spectral shape based on auditory-nerve (AN) discharge rate degrades significantly at high sound levels, particularly in high spontaneousrate (SR) fibers (Sachs and Young 1979). However, continued support for rate coding has come from the observations that robust spectral coding occurs in some low-SR fibers for vowels in quiet and that rate-difference profiles provide enough information to account for behavioral discrimination of vowels (Conley and Keilson 1995; May, Huang, Le Prell, and Hienz 1996). Despite this support, it is clear that temporal codes are more robust than rate (Young and Sachs 1979), especially in noise (Delgutte and Kiang 1984; Sachs, Voigt, and Young 1983). Sachs et al. (1983) showed that rate coding in low-SR fibers was significantly degraded at a moderate signal-to-noise ratio for which human perception is robust. In contrast, temporal coding based on the average- localized-synchronized-rate (ALSR) remained robust.
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Heinz, M.G. (2007). Spatiotemporal Encoding of Vowels in Noise Studied with the Responses of Individual Auditory-Nerve Fibers. In: Kollmeier, B., et al. Hearing – From Sensory Processing to Perception. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-73009-5_12
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