Comparison of temporal processing in the auditory brainstem neurons between acoustic and electrical hearing

Spatial hearing is essential for communication as well as navigation in everyday life. Unfortunately, sound localization in these complex environments is severely limited in patients with bilateral cochlear implants (CIs) and its restoration thus remains one of the central obstacles of CI research. Spatial sensitivity is generated by neurons in the brainstem that detect differences in the arrival time between excitatory and inhibitory inputs from the two ears on the scale of only microseconds. However, the mechanisms underlying this precise temporal integration of individual inputs and potential differences in temporal precision during electrical stimulation are still not understood. Here, we obtained in vivo electrophysiological recordings from single neurons in the brainstem of Mongolian Gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus). We characterized the temporal precision of action potential firing in response to click trains in binaural neurons of the Lateral Superior Olive and their upstream inputs (auditory nerve...