According to volley theory, how do groups of auditory neurons respond to sound?

Volley theory posits that groups of auditory neurons can process sounds through a mechanism where they fire action potentials slightly out of phase with one another. This coordination among neurons allows them to collectively represent high-frequency sounds more effectively than a single neuron could manage on its own. When neurons fire at different times, their combined activity can result in a pattern that reflects the frequency of the incoming sound waves, thereby allowing the auditory system to detect sounds at frequencies higher than the firing rate of individual neurons.

In this way, the volley principle helps explain how the auditory system encodes and interprets complex sounds by making use of the collective timing of action potentials across a multitude of neurons. It is particularly important for understanding how we can perceive the nuances of pitch and tone in our environment.