[Properties of nuclear and dispersed elements of the cortical end of the auditory analyzer according to total evoked potentials to sound]

Abstract

In chronic experiments on cats short-latency evoked potentials (EPs) to clicks were recorded simultaneously in three cortical areas--auditory (nuclear elements of the cortical end of the auditory analyser) sensorimotor and visual ones (scattered auditory elements). EPs to above threshold clicks in the auditory area differed from EPs of non-auditory areas by a greater amplitude and relatively stable configuration. The EP threshold in the auditory area was lower and the increase in its amplitude throughout a rise in clicks' intensity far greater than in the non-auditory areas. The above difference in responses of nuclear elements in the primary auditory cortex and of scattered elements in non-auditory areas are considered as the sign of specificity of their functional organization, i. e. as the manifestation of the participation of auditory nuclear elements in a relatively delicate analysis of auditory stimuli and that of scattered ones--in a more simple and limited analysis.