Population Responses Represent Vocalization Identity, Intensity, and Signal-to-Noise Ratio in Primary Auditory Cortex

Abstract

AbstractThe ability to process speech signals under challenging listening environments is critical for speech perception. Great efforts have been made to reveal the underlying single unit encoding mechanism. However, big variability is usually discovered in single-unit responses, and the population coding mechanism is yet to be revealed. In this study, we are aimed to study how a population of neurons encodes behaviorally relevant signals subjective to change in intensity and signal-noise-ratio (SNR). We recorded single-unit activity from the primary auditory cortex of awake common marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus) while delivering conspecific vocalizations degraded by two different background noises: broadband white noise (WGN) and vocalization babble (Babble). By pooling all single units together, the pseudo-population analysis showed the population neural responses track intra- and inter-trajectory angle evolutions track vocalization identity and intensity/SNR, respectively. The ability of the trajectory to track the vocalizations attribute was degraded to a different degree by different noises. Discrimination of neural populations evaluated by neural response classifiers revealed that a finer optimal temporal resolution and longer time scale of temporal dynamics were needed for vocalizations in noise than vocalizations at multiple different intensities. The ability of population responses to discriminate between different vocalizations were mostly retained above the detection threshold.Significance StatementHow our brain excels in the challenge of precise acoustic signal encoding against noisy environment is of great interest for scientists. Relatively few studies have strived to tackle this mystery from the perspective of neural population responses. Population analysis reveals the underlying neural encoding mechanism of complex acoustic stimuli based upon a pool of single units via vector coding. We suggest the spatial population response vectors as one important way for neurons to integrate multiple attributes of natural acoustic signals, specifically, marmots’ vocalizations.