  The influence of temperature on neuronal excitability is studied by numerical
simulations on the spiking threshold characteristics of bushy cells in cochlear
nucleus periodically stimulated by synaptic currents. The results reveal that
there is a cut-off frequency for the spiking of bushy cell in a specific
temperature environment, corresponding to the existence of a critical
temperature for the neuron to respond with real spikes to the synaptic stimulus
of a given frequency, due to the finiteness of spike width. An optimal
temperature range for neuronal spiking is also found for a specific stimulus
frequency, and the temperature range span decreases with increasing stimulus
frequency. These findings imply that there is a physiological temperature range
which is beneficial for the information processing in auditory system.
