AUDITION ➢ Sound waves > Pinna (locates

sound) > Tympanic Membrane

PHYSICS AND PSYCHOLOGY OF (eardrums) > Anvil, Hammer, Stirrup
SOUND (vibrates) > Cochlea > Hair Cells
(triggered by cochlea) > Cochlear
➢ Sound waves are periodic Neuron (action potential) > Auditory
compression of air, water, and other Cortex
media. ➢ No vibration in cochlea will not send
➢ The amplitude of a sound wave is information.
its intensity. In general, sounds of
greater amplitude seem louder, but PITCH PERFECTION
exceptions occur. For example, a
rapidly talking person seems louder ➢ According to the place theory, the
than slow music of the same basilar membrane (found in cochlea)
physical amplitude. resembles the strings of a piano,
➢ The frequency of a sound is the with each area along the membrane
number of compressions per tuned to a specific frequency. If you
second, measured in hertz (Hz, sound a note with a tuning fork near
cycles per second). a piano, you vibrate the piano string
➢ Pitch is the related aspect of tuned to that note.
perception. Sounds higher in ➢ According to this theory, each
frequency are higher in pitch. frequency activates the hair cells at
➢ In addition to amplitude and pitch, only one place along the basilar
the third aspect of sound is timbre, membrane, and the nervous system
meaning tone quality or tone distinguishes among frequencies
complexity. based on which neurons respond.
➢ People communicate emotion by The downfall of this theory is that the
alterations in pitch, loudness, and various parts of the basilar
timbre. membrane are bound together too
➢ Conveying emotional information by tightly for any part to resonate like a
tone of voice is known as prosody. piano string.

STRUCTURE OF THE EAR ➢ According to the frequency theory,

➢ 3 divisions: the entire basilar membrane vibrates
1. Outer ear in synchrony with a sound, causing
2. Middle ear auditory nerve axons to produce
3. Inner ear action potentials at the same
frequency.
- The downfall of this theory in its
simplest form is that the refractory
period of a neuron, through variables
among neurons, is typically 1/1,000
second, so the maximum firing rate
of a neuron is about 1000 Hz, far
 short of the highest frequencies we PRIMARY AUDITORY CORTEX
hear.
➢ As information from the auditory
➢ The current theory is a modification system passes through subcortical
of both theories. For low-frequency areas, axons cross over in the
sounds (up to about 100 Hz—more midbrain to enable each hemisphere
than an octave below middle C in of the forebrain to get most of its
music, which is 264 Hz), the basilar input from the opposite ear. The
membrane vibrates in synchrony information ultimately reaches the
with the sound waves, in accordance primary auditory cortex (area A1)
with the frequency theory, and the in the superior temporal cortex.
auditory nerve axons generate one ➢ The auditory system has a pathway
action potential per wave. in the anterior temporal cortex
➢ Soft sounds activate fewer neurons, specialized for identifying sounds,
and stronger sounds activate more. and a pathway in the posterior
Thus, at low frequencies, the temporal cortex and the parietal
frequency of impulses identifies the cortex specialized for locating
pitch, and the number of firing cells sounds.
identifies loudness. ➢ Just as patients with damage in area
➢ As sounds exceed 100 Hz, it MT become motion blind, patients
becomes harder than any neuron to with damage in parts of the superior
continue firing in synchrony with the temporal cortex become motion
sound waves. At higher frequencies, deaf. They hear sounds, but they do
a neuron might fire on some of the not detect that a source of a sound
waves and not others. Its action is moving.
potentials are phase-locked to the - Cortex is for processing the
peaks of the sound waves. information.

➢ According to the volley principle of ➢ Most cells have a preferred tone.

pitch discrimination, the auditory The auditory cortex provides what
nerve as a whole produces volleys researchers call a tonotopic map of
of impulses for sounds up to about sounds.
4000 per second, even though no ➢ Although some cells in the auditory
individual axon approaches that cortex respond well to a single tone,
frequency (Rose, Brugge, Anderson, most cells respond best to a
& Hind, 1967). However, beyond complex sound, such as a dominant
about 4000 Hz, even staggered tone and several harmonics.
volleys of impulses cannot keep ➢ Surrounding the primary auditory
pace with the sound waves. cortex are the secondary auditory
- Most human hearing takes place cortex and additional areas that
below 4000 Hz, the approximate respond best to relevant natural
limit of the volley principle. For sounds, such as animal calls,
comparison, the highest key on a birdsong, machinery noises, music,
piano is 4224 Hz. and speech.
- Problems in the secondary auditory INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
cortex can’t identify the words
associated with a sound. ➢ Amusia, commonly called “tone
- If you cannot imagine a sound, then deafness.” Although not really
a word relating to it becomes unable to detect differences in tones,
meaningless. they generally do not detect a
change less than about the
SOUND LOCATION difference between C and C-sharp.
Furthermore, they have trouble
➢ One method is the difference in recognizing tunes, cannot tell
time of arrival at the two ears. A whether someone is singing off-key,
sound coming directly from one side and do not detect a “wrong” note in a
reaches your closer ear about 600 melody. They also have trouble
microseconds (µs) before the other. gauging people’s mood, such as
A smaller difference in arrival times happiness or sadness, from the tone
indicates a sound source nearer to of voice.
your midline. Time of arrival is useful - For people with amusia, the auditory
for localizing sounds with a sudden cortex appears to be approximately
onset. normal, but it has fewer than
average connections to the frontal
➢ Another cue for location is the cortex.
difference in intensity between the - It results from either an impairment
ears. For high-frequency sounds, of the prefrontal cortex.
with a wavelength shorter than the - It can be inherited.
width of the head, the head creates
a sound shadow, making the sound ● Deafness
louder for the closer ear. In adult ➢ Although few people are totally
humans, this mechanism produces unable to hear, many people have
accurate sound localization for enough impairment to prevent
frequencies above 2000 to 3000 Hz speech comprehension. The two
and less accurate localizations for categories of hearing loss are
lower frequencies. conductive deafness and nerve
deafness:
➢ A third cue is the phase difference
between the ears. Every sound 1. Conductive Deafness or
wave has phases with peaks 360 Middle-Ear Deafness
degrees apart. It provides - Diseases, infections, or tumorous
information that is useful for bone growth can prevent the middle
localizing sounds of frequency up to ear from transmitting sound waves
about 1500 Hz in humans. Speech properly to the cochlea and is
sounds and music are well within sometimes temporary.
this range. - If it persists, it can be corrected by
surgery or by hearing aids that
amplify sounds. Because people
with conductive deafness have a
 normal cochlea and auditory nerve, reaction to prolonged degradation of
they readily hear their own voices, auditory input.
conducted through the bones of the ➢ The rest of the explanation relates to
skull directly to the cochlea, attention. Frequently you want to
bypassing the middle ear. Because listen to one person in a noisy room.
they hear themselves clearly, they To hear what you care about, you
may accuse others of mumbling or need to filter out all the other
talking too softly. sounds.

2. Nerve Deafness or Inner-Ear

Deafness
- Results from damage to the cochlea,
the hair cells, or the auditory nerve.
If it is confined to one part of the
cochlea, it impairs hearing of certain
frequencies and not others. Nerve
deafness can be inherited, it can
result from disease, or it can result
from exposure to loud noises.

➢ Tinnitus is frequent or constant

ringing in the ears. In some cases,
tinnitus may be due to a
phenomenon similar to phantom
limb. Damage to part of the cochlea
is like an amputation: If the brain no
longer gets its normal input, axons
representing other parts of the body
may invade part of the brain area
that usually responds to sounds.

HEARING, ATTENTION, AND OLD AGE

➢ Many older people have hearing

problems despite wearing hearing
aids. The hearing aids make the
sounds loud enough, but people still
have trouble understanding speech,
especially in a noisy room or if
someone speaks rapidly.
➢ Part of the explanation is that the
brain areas responsible for language
comprehension have become less
active. This trend might be just a
natural deterioration, or it might be a