ABSTRACT Auditory nerve fibers (ANFs) play a crucial role in hearing by encoding and transporting the synaptic input from inner hair cells into afferent spiking information for higher stages of the auditory system. If the inner hair cells are degenerated, cochlear implants may restore hearing by directly stimulating the ANFs. The response of an ANF is affected by several characteristics of the electrical stimulus and of the ANF, and neurophysiological measurements are needed to know how the ANF responds to a particular stimulus. However, recording from individual nerve fibers in humans is not feasible and obtaining compound neural or psychophysical responses is often time-consuming. This motivates the design and use of models to estimate the ANF response to the electrical stimulation. Phenomenological models reproduce the ANF response based on a simplified description of ANF functionality and on a limited parameter space by not directly describing detailed biophysical mechanisms. Here, we give an overview of phenomenological models published to date and demonstrate how different modeling approaches can account for the diverse phenomena affecting the ANF response. To highlight the success achieved in designing such models, we also describe a number of applications of phenomenological models to predict percepts of cochlear implant listeners.

中文翻译：

---

电刺激听觉神经纤维的现象学建模：综述

摘要 听觉神经纤维 (ANFs) 通过编码和传输来自内毛细胞的突触输入到听觉系统更高阶段的传入尖峰信息，在听力中起着至关重要的作用。如果内毛细胞退化，人工耳蜗可以通过直接刺激 ANF 来恢复听力。ANF 的反应受电刺激和 ANF 的几个特征的影响，需要神经生理学测量来了解 ANF 如何对特定刺激作出反应。然而，从人类的单个神经纤维进行记录是不可行的，并且获得复合神经或心理物理反应通常很耗时。这激发了模型的设计和使用来估计 ANF 对电刺激的反应。现象学模型基于 ANF 功能的简化描述和有限的参数空间，通过不直接描述详细的生物物理机制来再现 ANF 响应。在这里，我们概述了迄今为止发表的现象学模型，并展示了不同的建模方法如何解释影响 ANF 响应的各种现象。为了突出在设计此类模型方面取得的成功，我们还描述了现象学模型在预测人工耳蜗听者的感知方面的许多应用。我们概述了迄今为止发表的现象学模型，并展示了不同的建模方法如何解释影响 ANF 响应的各种现象。为了突出在设计此类模型方面取得的成功，我们还描述了现象学模型在预测人工耳蜗听者的感知方面的许多应用。我们概述了迄今为止发表的现象学模型，并展示了不同的建模方法如何解释影响 ANF 响应的各种现象。为了突出在设计此类模型方面取得的成功，我们还描述了现象学模型在预测人工耳蜗听者的感知方面的许多应用。