Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Organization of neuronal activity in neuronal populations
- Part III Neuronal population information coding and plasticity in specific brain areas
- 7 Functional roles of theta and gamma oscillations in the association and dissociation of neuronal networks in primates and rodents
- 8 Theta rhythm and bidirectional plasticity in the hippocampus
- 9 Distributed population codes in sensory and memory representations of the neocortex
- 10 The role of neuronal populations in auditory cortex for category learning
- 11 The construction of olfactory representations
- Part IV Functional integration of different brain areas in information processing and plasticity
- Part V Disturbances of population activity as the basis of schizophrenia
- Part VI Summary, conclusion, and future targets
- Index
- References
10 - The role of neuronal populations in auditory cortex for category learning
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 August 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Organization of neuronal activity in neuronal populations
- Part III Neuronal population information coding and plasticity in specific brain areas
- 7 Functional roles of theta and gamma oscillations in the association and dissociation of neuronal networks in primates and rodents
- 8 Theta rhythm and bidirectional plasticity in the hippocampus
- 9 Distributed population codes in sensory and memory representations of the neocortex
- 10 The role of neuronal populations in auditory cortex for category learning
- 11 The construction of olfactory representations
- Part IV Functional integration of different brain areas in information processing and plasticity
- Part V Disturbances of population activity as the basis of schizophrenia
- Part VI Summary, conclusion, and future targets
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
Auditory cortex function beyond bottom–up feature detection
Until the 1980s the auditory cortex was mainly conceptualized as the neuronal structure implementing the top hierarchy level of bottom–up processing of physical characteristics (features) of auditory stimuli. In that respect, plastic changes in anatomical and functional principles were only considered relevant for developmental processes towards an otherwise stable adult brain. Presently, this view has been replaced by a conceptualization of auditory cortex as a structure holding a strategic position in the interaction between bottom–up and top–down processing (for review see Irvine, 2007; Scheich et al., 2007), in particular auditory learning (for review see Weinberger, 2004; Irvine and Wright, 2005; Ohl and Scheich, 2005).
In this chapter we review experimental evidence from gerbil and macaque auditory cortex that has led to this change of view about auditory cortex function. It will be argued that a fundamental understanding of the role of auditory cortex in learning has required to move beyond the study of simple classical conditioning and feature detection learning, for which auditory cortex does not seem to be a generally necessary structure (see below). Specifically, it will be elaborated that the abstraction from trained particular stimuli, as it is epitomized in the phenomenon of category learning (concept formation), is a complex but fundamental learning phenomenon for which auditory cortex is a relevant structure harboring the necessary functional organization.
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- Information
- Information Processing by Neuronal Populations , pp. 224 - 246Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008