Pulse-number distributions (PNDs) were recorded from primary afferent fibers in the auditory nerve of the cat, using standard microelectrode techniques. Pure-tone and broadband-noise stimuli were used. The number of neural spikes (pulses) n was measured in a set of contiguous intervals, each of duration T seconds. The quantity n varies from one interval to another. These data were then used to determine the PND, which is the probability p(n,T) of occurrence of n spikes in the time T, versus the number n. The estimated mean and variance of p(n,T) were obtained. Two different values of T were used. We observe that the count mean-to-variance ratio R is relatively constant and independent of the stimulus intensity. The PND readily exhibits the existence of spike pairs in the underlying point process for some units. A study of the scaled and unscaled pulse-interval distributions (PIDs), under conditions of spontaneous firing, demonstrates that the occurrences of neural events are sometimes not describable by a renewal process. [Work supported by NIH Grant 2-R01-NS 03654.]
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Teich et al. (1983) studied this question.