ABSTRACT
A key question for the study of spike times is whether or not they are actually important. That is, are they an interesting phenomenon or simply an epiphenomenon? Every spike must have a time associated with it, after all. A critical test for the signicance of spike timing is to relate it to function, and in the case of the auditory system, an important function is perception, including detection and discrimination of sounds. In particular, the role of spike timing in the ability of listeners to discriminate the most basic aspects of simple stimuli is of interest, such as the amplitude and frequency of tonal stimuli.
