Pulse rise time but not duty cycle affects the temporal selectivity of neurons in the anuran midbrain that prefer slow AM rates.

Recovery-type auditory neurons in the anuran inferior colliculus (IC) respond with band-pass or low-pass selectivity for sinusoidal AM. These cells respond to each modulation cycle at slow AM rates and respond only at the onset of fast AM or pulse repetition rate (PRR) stimuli, failing to recover from the effects of early pulses. This selectivity is not altered by changes in pulse duty cycle. The recovery process is governed therefore by the interpulse interval and not the dimension of the gap between sound pulses. Most of these neurons preferred fast rise times, which is characteristic of the sound pulses in the calls of Hyla regilla and Rana pipiens, the two species selected for this study.