We refer to the time over which the auditory system averages firing rate the Òtemporal windowÓ. As the sound passes through the temporal window, all of the response that fits into the window at one time gets averaged. IÕve shown this in terms of the time waveform of a sound, but remember it is really the firing rate of auditory nerve fibers that is getting averaged.
	Notice that the average firing rate ÒcapturesÓ the decrease in intensity in the second ÒwindowÓ, but it misses some of the shorter decreases in the intensity that occur in the last 3 windows.