(A) Schematic representation of a predefined cochlear implant (CI) electrode array along a simplified unwound cochlea. The array consists of 12 electrodes equally distributed along the tonotopic axis, spanning from 5 to 26 mm from the base. The depicted frequencies correspond to the entire normal-hearing range of 20 to 20,000 Hz. (B) Spread of excitation functions corresponding to the 12 electrode locations are shown between the CI electrode array and the cochlea, with λ = 9 mm. A total of 980 Auditory Nerve Fibers (ANFs) and 35 excitation-inhibition (EI) neurons are evenly distributed along the tonotopic axis on each side. The outputs of these ANFs are classified into 35 groups, depicted as interleaved black and gray rectangles, based on their center frequencies. These groups are then transmitted to the corresponding EI neurons, illustrated as solid circles in blue and red. (C) Illustration of the left-hemispheric EI neuron 1 receiving excitatory input from the ipsilateral or left side (represented in blue, 20 ANFs, e.g. ANFs 1–20) and inhibitory input from the contralateral or right side (8 ANFs, e.g., ANFs 20–28, represented in red).