Auditory Information Coding by Cochlear Nucleus Onset Neurons

In this paper we use information theory to quantify the information in the output spike trains of modeled cochlear nucleus onset neurons. Onset neurons are known for their precise temporal processing, and they code the periodicity of voiced speech with high fidelity. We conclude that the maximum information transmission rate for a single neuron is close to 1000 bits/s, which corresponds to 3.26 bits/spike. For quasi-periodic signals like voiced speech, the transmitted information saturates with word duration, with 90% of the information being transmitted within 73 ms. Information theory also shows that the maximum temporal resolution of onset neurons is approximately 0.1 ms