ABSTRACT
Reviewing what we know about how single neurons of the auditory nerve and cochlear nucleus encode amplitude modulation is a major goal of this chapter. All of these studies have been conducted by presenting AM sounds in a quiet acoustic environment. It will be evident that we have learned much from these previous efforts about how the cochlear nucleus abstracts important information about rapid sound-amplitude changes. However, it remains uncertain, for example, how the remarkable abilities of some cochlear nucleus neurons to give an amplified response to AM over a wide range of average intensities would be effected by a more rea!istic auditory setting containing background noise. We will present so me initial data directed at answering this question toward the end of this chapter.
