Correlates of Forward Masking in Squirrel Monkeys

Abstract

Perception and cognition are, besides intrinsic neural processes, essentially based on information from the organism’s peripheral sensory structures. And out of a huge “sensory” environment only those parameters will gain access to perceptive or cognitive brain structures which pass particular windows(filters) shaped by the mechanical, physiological and/or neural properties of the transforming organs(i.e. eyes,ears,skin, nose, etc.)- Thereby effects of masking play a considerable part in designing such windows. Mainly due to the temporal nature of acoustic signals but also due to the mechanics of the cochlea as the transforming organ, masking will strongly influence the information parameters available for the auditory system’s centripetal structures. Consequently, in the sense of adaptation at an optimal communication system, perceptive or cognitive brain activities will also have influences at the motor side. Thus, in the case of the auditory system, they may be reflected within the production of vocalizations.