Variation on a Theme of Békésy: A Model of Binaural Interaction

Abstract

The model of binaural interaction proposed by B•k•sy in 1930 which has received very little attention in modern theories is re-examined in the light of recent anatomical and physiological findings. A modified model is proposed in which time and intensity are mapped independent of each other in the accessory nuclei of the superior olive; excitatory and inhibitory neural signals interact at the accessory nucleus neurons, giving rise to time-intensity trade. The behavior of the model is in qualitative accord with psychophysical and physiological observations.

Congenital and Prolonged Adult-Onset Deafness Cause Distinct Degradations in Neural ITD Coding with Bilateral Cochlear Implants

“…Together with its mirror image from the opposite IC, this average tuning curve is the information on which lateralization judgments are based in "two-channel" models of sound localization, which compare the summed neural activity on both sides of the brain (e.g., van Bergeijk 1962;McAlpine et al 2001;Stecker et al 2005;Devore et al 2009). Here, we use the two-channel concept as a qualitative means of assessing the relative effect of each deafness model on ITD perception.…”

Responses of squirrel monkey (Samiri sciureus) medial geniculate units to binaural click stimuli.

“…The monkey could then IJe used the following week in the same manner to study the contralateral medial gcniculate nucleus. At the end of the second experiment the animal was anesthetized ancl perfused, the cars examined for intactness of the tympanic membrane or signs of Olitis media, and the brain removed for subseq uent histological preparation 10 define the electrode penetrations.…”

Anatomy of the Afferent Auditory Nervous System of Mammals

“…Presumably the arrangement is the same in the cat. The innervation of the nerve cells of each lamina by pathways of progressively increasing length resembles, in part, the theoretical models of localization mechanisms proposed by JEFFRESS (1948), VAN BERGEIJK (1962), andLICKLIDER (1959); the laminae of the geniculate may be related to localization. The laminae are bilaterally innervated, but whether the bilateral innervation corresponds to that proposed in the models is not known.…”