Brainstem entracking neurons fire one spike per stimulus cycle

Evidence

In contrast, in the CNS, skipping of cycles is often less prominent. At low stimulus frequencies, higher modes in the ISI distribution, at multiples of the stimulus period, can be strongly attenuated relative to the mode corresponding to the tone period (references: see Sect. 3 ). One corollary of this behavior is that average firing rate can approach the stimulus frequency. Perfect entracking means that a neuron fires one spike per cycle so that the firing rate equals the stimulus repetition frequency. A rate-place profile for neurons with perfect entracking would look quite different from that in the AN, and stimulus frequency in an absolute sense would now affect the display. For a low-frequency pure tone at some supra-threshold level, the rate-place profile would show a horizontal rather than a vertical pattern: all entracking neurons would be firing at the same firing rate, which would equal the stimulus frequency. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 4507

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines ‘entracking’ precisely: a neuron firing one spike per cycle so firing rate equals stimulus repetition frequency, forming a horizontal rate-place ‘butte’ profile.