File:Predictions of Tuning Characteristics.gif

English: (A) Tuning curves for the same two cells as in Figure 5B and 5E, and 5C and 5F, respectively. The data show the intensity required to drive a receptor cell at a firing rate of 150 Hz for different sound frequencies in the range of 1 to 40 kHz. The characteristic frequency fCF is determined as the minimum of the tuning curve, and the tuning width Δf3dB as the width of the curve 3 dB above the minimum value. (B) Comparison of the predicted and measured characteristic frequency and the tuning width. The predictions were obtained from the fundamental frequency and decay time constant of the measured filter L(Δt); the measured values are taken from the tuning curves as in (A) (n = 12). The encircled data points correspond to the three examples shown in Figure 5. The width of the tuning curves is notoriously difficult to assess quantitatively, as it depends sensitively on an accurate determination of the intensity minimum of the tuning curve. This contributes strongly to the differences of the tuning-width values.