Novel neurons focus on novel sounds

SEATTLE, Dec 1, 2005 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A team of Spanish and American neuroscientists has discovered neurons in the mammalian brainstem that focus exclusively on new, novel sounds.

The researchers say the "novelty detector neurons" help humans and other animals ignore ongoing, predictable sounds by quickly stopping firing if a sound or sound pattern is repeated, but resume firing whenever some aspect of the sound changes.

University of Washington Psychology Professor Ellen Covey said the neurons can detect changes in pitch, loudness or duration of a single sound -- and can even detect changes in the pattern of a complex series of sounds.

Covey said the research implies those cells can "remember a frequently occurring pattern and perform relatively sophisticated cognitive tasks such as discriminating a novel pattern from a frequently occurring one."

She said the new findings suggest some cognitive processes for sorting and identifying sounds occur very early in the auditory pathway, and that novelty detector neurons could be involved in directing attention to unexpected sounds, possibly evoking rapid reflex responses.

Covey, Dr. Manuel Malmierca of the University of Salamanca and doctoral student David Perez-Gonzalez report their findings in the early December issue of the European Journal of Neuroscience.

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