New functional response features are generated in the central auditory system. Two examples are shown. First, the discharge pattern of the auditory nerve in response to tones (marked by the gray line) exhibits a sustained response, with strong firing at stimulus onset. Many central auditory neurons, however, only exhibit transient responses to the onset or offset (not depicted) of stimulus. Second, the firing rate of the auditory nerve increases monotonically with the increase of sound intensity and may reach a plateau at high intensities. Central auditory neurons, however, can be intensity selective, as demonstrated by their nonmonotonic response–intensity functions.