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Neural correlates of nonmonotonic temporal acuity for voice onset time.

Human and chinchilla listeners exhibit nonmonotonic temporal acuity for speech sounds differing in voice onset time (VOT). Characteristics of the neural discharge pattern or of the stimuli themselves that might account for the pattern of temporal acuity have not been described. Responses of chinchilla auditory-nerve fibers to syllables from an alveolar VOT continuum were measured. Peak discharge rates and peak response latencies elicited by the syllables with the shortest and longest VOTs were highly variable across groups of neurons with similar characteristic frequencies. For VOTs from the middle of the continuum, peak responses were larger, and response latencies were nearly constant across the same group of neurons. Overall, the magnitude and temporal variability of the responses of populations of primary auditory neurons varied nonmonotonically with VOT, consistent with the pattern of psychophysical temporal acuity for these syllables exhibited by humans and chinchillas. Spectral analyses suggested by the pattern of neural responses indicated that synchronous or correlated spectral cues were available over a wider bandwidth for those syllables from the middle of the continuum for which the neural representation was least variable.