A model for binaural response properties of inferior colliculus neurons. I. A model with interaural time difference-sensitive excitatory and inhibitory inputs

The inferior colliculus (IC) model of Cai et al. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 103, 475-493 (1998)] simulated the binaural response properties of low-frequency IC neurons in response to various acoustic stimuli. This model, however, failed to simulate the sensitivities of IC neurons to dynamically changing temporal features, such as the sharpened dynamic interaural phase difference (IPD) functions. In this paper, the Cai et al. (1998) model is modified such that an adaptation mechanism, viz., an additional channel simulating a calcium-activated, voltage-independent potassium channel which is responsible for afterhyperpolarization, is incorporated in the IC membrane model. Simulations were repeated with this modified model, including the responses to pure tones, binaural beat stimuli, interaural phase-modulated stimuli, binaural clicks, and pairs of binaural clicks. The discharge patterns of the model in response to current injection were also studied and compared with physiological data. It was demonstrated that this model showed all the properties that were simulated by the Cai et al. (1998) model. In addition, it showed some properties that were not simulated by that model, such as the sharpened dynamic IPD functions and adapting discharge patterns in response to current injection.