1. A hearing prosthesis implantable in a recipient and configured to receive a sound, comprising: an incremental encoder configured to generate a plurality of incremental excitation patterns each based on an effect of previously generated incremental excitation patterns on the recipient's auditory nerve, such that the incremental excitation patterns collectively and incrementally build a neural excitation on the auditory nerve that causes perception of the received sound, and such that, for a given one of the electrodes, the corresponding incremental excitation pattern is configured to compensate for at least one of spatial spreading of excitation from adjacent electrodes and temporal integration occurring along a corresponding neural pathway; and an output signal generator configured to convert the excitation patterns to patterns of stimulation pulses for delivery to the auditory nerve.