Data from: Broadband onset inhibition can suppress spectral splatter in the auditory brainstem

In vivo intracellular responses to auditory stimuli revealed that, in a
particular population of cells of the ventral nucleus of the lateral
lemniscus (VNLL) of rats, fast inhibition occurred before the first action
potential. These experimental data were used to constrain a leaky
integrate-and-fire (LIF) model of the neurons in this circuit. The
post-synaptic potentials of the VNLL cell population were characterized
using a method of triggered averaging. Analysis suggested that these
inhibited VNLL cells produce action potentials in response to a particular
magnitude of the rate of change of their membrane potential. The LIF model
was modified to incorporate the VNLL cells’ distinctive action potential
production mechanism. The model was used to explore the response of the
population of VNLL cells to simple speech-like sounds. These sounds
consisted of a simple tone modulated by a saw tooth with exponential
decays, similar to glottal pulses that are the repeated impulses seen in
vocalizations. It was found that the harmonic component of the sound was
enhanced in the VNLL cell population when compared to a population of
auditory nerve fibers. This was because the broadband onset noise, also
termed spectral splatter, was suppressed by the fast onset inhibition.
This mechanism has the potential to greatly improve the clarity of the
representation of the harmonic content of certain kinds of natural sounds.