Formant coding in the cochlear nucleus—Is there a place for time?

Ever since Ohm and Seebeck, hearing theory has pondered whether “place” or “time” is the dominant means by which acoustic information is encoded in the ear. Over the past decade it has become increasingly clear that, at the level of the auditory nerve, both place and timing mechanisms participate in the representation of complex sounds. As a consequence, attention is now focused on the cochlear nucleus (CN), to which the auditory nerve projects. Within this nuclear complex occurs a remarkable degree of physiological diversity of potential significance to speech coding. The present survey reviews the temporal response properties of the major CN cell types to voiced CV syllables and the potential role played by each in the encoding of speech. All of the major response classes—primarylike, onset, chopper, onset‐chopper, and pauser‐buildup—are capable of synchronizing to the fundamental frequency or first formant. However, the range of acoustic conditions over which they do so, as well as the precision and up...