The numerical sense of animals includes identifying the numerosity of a sequence of events that occur with specific intervals, e.g., notes in a call or bar of music. Across nervous systems, the temporal patterning of spikes can code these events, but how this information is decoded (counted) remains elusive. In the anuran auditory system, temporal information of this type is decoded in the midbrain, where “interval-counting” neurons spike only after at least a threshold number of sound pulses have occurred with specific timing. We show that this decoding process, i.e., interval counting, arises from integrating phasic, onset-type and offset inhibition with excitation that augments across successive intervals, possibly due to a progressive decrease in “shunting” effects of inhibition. Because these physiological properties are ubiquitous within and across central nervous systems, interval counting may be a general mechanism for decoding diverse information coded/encoded in temporal patterns of spikes, including “bursts,” and estimating elapsed time.

中文翻译：

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听觉神经元如何计算时间间隔并解码信息


动物的数字感包括识别以特定间隔发生的一系列事件的数量，例如音乐中的音符或小节。在神经系统中，尖峰的时间模式可以对这些事件进行编码，但如何解码（计数）这些信息仍然难以捉摸。在无神听觉系统中，这种类型的时间信息在中脑中解码，其中“间隔计数”神经元仅在特定时间发生至少阈值数量的声音脉冲后才会出现峰值。我们表明，这种解码过程，即间隔计数，是由将阶段性、起始类型和偏移抑制与兴奋相结合而产生的，兴奋在连续的间隔内增强，可能是由于抑制的“分流”效应逐渐减少。由于这些生理特性在中枢神经系统内和跨中枢神经系统普遍存在，因此间隔计数可能是解码以尖峰时间模式（包括“突发”）编码/编码的各种信息并估计经过时间的通用机制。