LONG-TERM TEMPORAL INTEGRATION IN THE ANURAN AUDITORY-SYSTEM

Analysis of the temporal structure of acoustic signals is important fo r the communication and survival of a variety of animals including hum ans. Recognition and discrimination of particular temporal patterns in sounds may involve integration of auditory information presented over hundreds of milliseconds or seconds. Here we show neural evidence for long-term integration in the anuran auditory system. The responses of one class of auditory neurons in the torus semicircularis (auditory m idbrain) of frogs reflect the integration of information, gathered ove r approximately 45-150 ms, from a series of stimulus pulses, not stimu lus energy. This integration process is fundamental to the selective r esponses of these neurons for particular call types.