Second-order Wiener kernel analysis of auditory afferent axons of the North American bullfrog and Mongolian gerbil responding to noise

First and second order Wiener kernels are used to describe the response of auditory nerve axons to noise in two animals, the North American bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) and the Mongolian Gerbil (Meriones unguiculatis). Analysis of the second order Wiener kernels using singular value decomposition results in a simple model of the auditory periphery that describes both low and high frequency sensitive auditory unit responses to arbitrary sound.; The Wiener kernels are analysed to determine the tuning properties of the axons and second order tuning changes as a function of background noise amplitude is presented. The Wiener series of several auditory units that have properties typical of peripheral auditory afferent function are discussed and it is shown that these properties (tuning, adaptation, suppression, and non-phase locked temporal response) are properties of the Wiener series. Furthermore, these properties are easily described by the Wiener kernels. Finally, it is shown that the second order Wiener series predicts the temporal response of non-phase locked auditory afferent fibers in response to an arbitrary waveform.; The model presented here is in these respects the first comprehensive descriptive model of the response to sound by auditory afferent fibers. The ease of experiment and of data analysis, the simplicity of the model, and the ease of interpretation of the Wiener kernels in terms of linear systems, are each discussed.