Auditory Stimulus Selection in Rodents and the Cocktail Party Problem

We must often focus on important sounds in our environment while ignoring others—sometimes called the "cocktail party problem." In this video, Dr. Chris Rodgers explains how rats were trained to perform a similar task. Prestimulus modulation of neuronal activity may underlie this ability. For more information, see Rodgers and DeWeese, Neuron 82(5).