  Linear Non-Linear(LN) models are widely used to characterize the receptive
fields of early-stage auditory processing. We apply the principle of efficient
coding to the LN model of Spectro-Temporal Receptive Fields(STRFs) of the
neurons in primary auditory cortex. The Efficient Coding Principle has been
previously used to understand early visual receptive fields and linear STRFs in
auditory processing. Efficient coding is realized by jointly optimizing the
mutual information between stimuli and neural responses subjected to the
metabolic cost of firing spikes. We compare the predictions of the efficient
coding principle with the physiological observations, which match qualitatively
under realistic conditions of noise in stimuli and the spike generation
process.
