Interaural time difference (ITD) is an important sound localization cue, arising from the different travel time of a sound from its source to the left and right ears for sources located to either side of the head. Neural extraction of ITDs occurs in the superior olivary complex (SOC). SOC neurons receive binaural input and are thought to perform a process of cross-correlation between the spike trains arriving from left and right ear. Since the acoustic signals are bandpass filtered by the cochlea, the ITD tuning curves of SOC neurons to noise stimuli exhibit shapes similar to cross-correlation functions of bandpass noise (Yin and Chan 1990). They are generally sinusoidal in shape and their amplitude is symmetrically damped either side of their tuning maximum (Fig. 1A).
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Marquardt, T., Mcalpine, D. (2007). A π-Limit for Coding ITDs: Implications for Binaural Models. In: Kollmeier, B., et al. Hearing – From Sensory Processing to Perception. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-73009-5_44
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