Neural Modeling (Auditory Image Model)
The inner ear and the auditory periphery take in sound and convert it to a set of neural signals that are relayed to the brainstem and brain. These neural signals form a neural code of the original sound. The neural circuits of the brainstem and brain further process this code to determine what and where the objects are that produced the sound. Our knowledge of how the peripheral auditory system operates and its consequences for auditory perception have advanced to the point where we can quantitatively describe how the neural code is formed from the original sound. Thus, we have developed computational models of the peripheral auditory system. These models allow us to ask questions about how the brainstem and brain might process the neural code, without having to do the extremely difficult and time-consuming research involving studying the physiology of the brain of animals (although, we also do this type of physiological work at Parmly). At Parmly we use and have helped develop the Auditory Image Model (AIM) platform designed and implemented by Dr. Roy Patterson and colleagues at the Applied Psychology Unit of the Medical Research Council of England (located in Cambridge England). The neural pattern that constitutes the neural code of sound has a rich amount of temporal information about the original sound field. We are particularly interested in determining how the brainstem and brain might process this temporal information in order for it to determine the sources of sound. We have a network of computer workstations on which AIM runs and which makes it relatively easy for scientists and students to use the models in a wide variety of research projects.