Introduction

Abstract

This monograph is an account of the way in which neural events generated by sound are processed in the mammalian midbrain. One could ask why the auditory midbrain should be selected and not, for example, the auditory receiving areas of the cerebral cortex. One principal reason is that, early in phylogeny, the midbrain achieves prominence well before telencephalic regions. In reptiles, amphibia, and avians, much of the neural integration needed to generate a well-developed repertoire of acoustically evoked behaviors is provided by the midbrain. This region retains its large size, and appears to be a mandatory synaptic relay for virtually all auditory information in mammalian species up to the primate family.