chime in practice questions

Question 1

What is recorded from a single neuron and is a way to show how firing rate represents how different frequencies excite a neuron

Answer 1

a physiological tuning curve

Question 2

When are the formant frequencies of a vowel represented well?

Answer 2

in the neural firing rate at high presentation levels when only low spontaneous rate neurons are considered

this is because high spontaneous neurons saturate so they won’t present whereas low spontaneous neurons do not saturate so they will present

Question 3

are the formant frequencies of a steady state vowel represented in the pattern of neural synchrony for all presentation levels?

Answer 3

yes

Question 4

when does a neuron’s response to a click appear earlier?

Answer 4

when a rarefaction click is presented AND the result is analyzed in a post stimulus time histogram

Question 5

Based on what you know about the superior olive’s response to sound, what frequencies should be presented in a backup warning signal for trucks that would be most effective?

Answer 5

white noise

Question 6

what order are VIIIth nerve fibers

Answer 6

first order

Question 7

describe the intensity control theory, what does it say about the purpose of the stapedius reflex?

Answer 7

the stapedius reflex exists to provide protection from loud sounds

Question 8

what are some of the reasons why the intensity control theory is not likely a viable explanation for the presence of the reflex?

Answer 8

1. muscle is slow to contract
2. low frequencies are attenuated, but high frequencies are typically damaged
3. not evolutionary necessary/beneficial

Question 9

What is the acoustic reflex mediated by

Answer 9

the superior olive

Question 10

When a human stapedius muscle contracts it attenuates…

Answer 10

only low frequencies

Question 11

The basilar membrane excitation pattern has a steep __________ slope and a shallow _________ slope compared to the neural tuning curve that has a shallow __________ slope and a steep __________ slope

Answer 11

low frequency, high frequency, low frequency, high frequency

Question 12

Phase locking is a property of VIIIth nerve neurons for frequencies less than

Answer 12

4000 Hz

*1000 HZ is what the nerve can fire at, but it can skip cycles and fire at frequencies above 1000 Hz

Question 13

What is a tuning curve obtained from

Answer 13

a single neuron

Question 14

What is plotted on the x axis and y axis of a tuning curve

Answer 14

x axis = frequency
y axis = level (dB)

Question 15

When a scientist is measuring a tuning curve, she picks a single frequency (1000 Hz) and raises the decibel level

Answer 15

and documents firing rate changes at each level until the nerve saturates

Question 16

What is a rate-intensity function obtained from

Answer 16

a single neuron

Question 17

What is plotted on the X axis and y axis of a rate-intensity function

Answer 17

x axis = intensity (dB)
y axis = firing rate

Question 18

When a scientist measures a rate-intensity function she raises the decibel level

Answer 18

and documents the firing rate changes at each level until the nerve saturates

Question 19

If you were asked how much speech is represented in the nerve what kind of graph would you look at?

Answer 19

You would most likely use a neural excitation pattern because it shows response of a population of neurons and looks at pattern of firing rate

*You would want to look at a whole bunch of neurons so you wouldn’t use a tuning curve