Neural ITD coding could use either equal conduction latencies or phase matching.

Evidence

There are two possibilities, illustrated by the example of a coincidence detector neuron that responds to a pure sine tone, presented to both ears at an ITD of 0 μs, or sound in front of the animal. One strategy requires equal conduction latencies from each ear to the coincidence detector, such that the inputs would arrive with equal latency and equal phase. The second strategy relies on relative delays and would simply require that inputs arrive at the same phase. Due to the periodicity of the sine wave, both scenarios would produce the same output. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 2843

Categorization

• DEFINE: Lays out the two coding strategies (latency vs. phase) that the whole chapter discriminates between.