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Context-Dependent Processing in Auditory Cortex

Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience

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Definition

Context-dependent processing refers to the experimental finding that a neuron may respond to the same stimulus in different ways, depending on the recent history of the stimulation. Context dependence differs from plasticity in that the changes in response properties are fast and reversible.

Detailed Description

Responses in the auditory system are context dependent at multiple time scales. Already at the level of the auditory nerve, firing rate adaptation constitutes a simple form of context dependence, although the times involved are mostly on the order of a few ms up to a few tens of ms (Eggermont 1985). A major example of context dependence consists of the suppression of the responses to a stimulus that is preceded shortly beforehand by another similar stimulus (often called “forward masking”). Forward masking at the level of the mechanical vibrations of the cochlea may account for most properties of psychoacoustical forward masking (Plack and Oxenham 1998). At the...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Israel Nelken Ph.D.

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  1. Israel Nelken Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Israel Nelken Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Dieter Jaeger

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA

    Ranu Jung

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Nelken, I. (2013). Context-Dependent Processing in Auditory Cortex. In: Jaeger, D., Jung, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_429-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_429-2

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7320-6

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Context-Dependent Processing in Auditory Cortex
    Published:
    06 January 2020

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_429-3

  2. Original

    Context-Dependent Processing in Auditory Cortex
    Published:
    12 March 2014

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_429-2

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