Auditory System

The auditory system is responsible for

- Transmission of energy
- Perception of sound

Physical Characteristics of Sound

Sound wave = is a traveling periodic pressure vibration
- Weakens with distance
- Periodic sounds (sine waves)
- Properties of sound waves; frequency, amplitude and phase

Sound sensation
- Sine waves evoke an auditory response
- Periodic sounds evoke a pitch
- Pitch is related to frequency

Transmission of Sound in Inner Ear

1) Air conduction - eardrum and ossicles to oval window
2) Bone conduction - bones of skull (inner eat to cochlea)

Hearing aid = sound travels via the sound processor and the bone directly to the cochlea
- Does not cover the ear
- Audio Bone (type of hearing aid) hearing is not damaged by loudness of sound
- Sound waves are converted into mechanical vibrations going through the skull straight to the auditory
nerve

Theories on Sound Transmission by Bone

1. Inertial (Transmission) Mechanism
- When the skull vibrates, the eardrum and the ossicles fall behind with their vibration due to inertia
- Vibrations are transmitted to the oval window and the sound transmitted like air conduction

2. Compressive Mechanism
- During vibration of the skull, fluids in the inner ear are alternately compressed and decompressed
- The oval window is more susceptible to compression than the cochlea. Compression and
decompression of fluids are compensated by deflexion of the round window membrane which
causes the deflexion of the basilar membrane

3. Mechanism of the Dislocation of the Mandible

- The mandibular head causes vibration of the cartilaginous part of the outer ear
- The vibrations are carried to the cochlea by common air conduction
- Proof; the closure of the outer by the compression of the scrap of the pinna increases the
loudness of the perceived sound, up to the frequency of 1000 Hz. This is caused by the closure of
the bone part of the outer ear

Importance of Bone Conductivity Mechanism

The sound intensity level is lower than for air conduction by 50-60 dB, due to attenuation by the soft tissue of
the head.

Types of skull vibrations caused by sound

• Up to 800 Hz - whole skull vibrates
• > 800 Hz - sections of skull vibrates
• 800 - 1600 Hz - vibrations of two halves of the skull, lengthening and widening the skull
• > 1600 Hz - skull vibrates in 4 - 8 sections

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Auditory System
Physics of Sound
Properties of sound
- Frequency
- Intensity
- Acoustic pressure
- Spectrum

Sound intensity (I) = the sound power (P) per unit area (A)

Sound intensity measurements are made relative to a standard threshold of the hearing
intensity (Io) = 10-12 Wm-2

Acoustic pressure = variations of pressure caused by the passing, related to atmospheric

pressure. The standard threshold of hearing in terms of pressure (p0) = 2 x 10-5 Nm-2

Waveform and Spectrum

Waveform = is the result of the superposition of three pure tones of frequencies (f1, f2, f3) and
amplitudes (A1, A2, A3)

Spectrum = represents the component of pure tones of frequencies (f) and amplitudes (A) that
make up the sound

Reflection of Sound
Reflection of sound follows law of reflection
The reflected waves can interfere with incident waves, producing patterns of constructive and
destructive interference. This leads to resonance - standing waves

Outer-Ear Function
- Pre-amplification - pinna collects more sound energy than the ear canal would receive
without it and thus contributes to the amplification
- Enhances 2000 - 5000 Hz
- Gain - horn shape of the concha serves to amplify sound pressure

Sound Localization = is the ability to identify the location or origin of a detected sound
Methods for sound localization
- Binaural cues
- Monaural cues

Binaural Cues - relies on the comparison of auditory input from both ears
The split = the difference in time in where when sound reaches the near ear in comparison to
the far ear (inter-aural time difference).
- ITDmax = 0.63 ms
- Sound takes longer to reach the far ear
- Low frequencies (< 2kHz)
The reduction in loudness when the sound reaches the far ear (less biologically important) -
interaural level difference
- High frequencies (> 2kHz)

ITD = IID

Precedence Effect = is the location of sound based on the earliest arriving waves in the onset
of a sound

Monaural Cues - depend on the filtering effects of external structures (head, shoulders, torso,
outer ear)
Sounds are frequency filtered specifically depending on the angle from which they strike the
various external filters

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Auditory System
5 Major Cues for Sound Localisation
1. The interaural intensity difference (IID) - the sound coming from one side or the other must
travel further to reach one ear. A sound source can produce different loudness in each ear
2. The interaural time difference (ITD) - the sound from a source arrives at each ear at a different
time depending upon its location. There is a delay of a small fraction of a second between the
onset in each ear, and the brain recognises the delay and uses it to determine the location of
the sound
3. The effects of the pinna (auricle) - as sound interacts with the pinna before entering the ear
canal, some of its characteristics are changed depending on the direction of the sound. The
shape of the pinna changes the sound.
4. Motion cues
5. Environmental and contextual cues

Acoustic impedance (Z) = is a measure of the reaction of the medium to acoustic waves and is a
property of the medium

Function of the Middle Ear

- Sound propagates through air
- Cochlea is fluid filled
- Airborne sound is reflected mostly off the surface of a fluid
- Impedance transformer is carried out by means of:
○ Hydraulic gain (where there is no flow or pressure output ) caused by the difference in the
surface area of eardrum and the oval window surface
○ Action of leverage system of malleus and incus
○ Aim = sound amplification
○ To transform acoustic energy applied to the eardrum by the low-impedance gaseous
external environment into a similar signal in the much higher impedance of the fluid and
tissue environment of the inner ear

Function of Outer Ear

- Auditory canal impedance matching; the acoustic impedance of the eardrum corresponds well
with the auditory canal, guaranteeing maximum efficiency of energy transfer, but it does not
correspond well with air
- Pinna impedance matching device between the air canal and the eardrum

Mechanism of the Middle Ear

- The eardrum exerts force on the malleus (hammer)
- The force is transformed by the leverage system of the malleus and incus to the stapes and the
force is exerted on the oval window of the inner ear
- Because of the different lengths of the lever arms the force is amplified by a factor of 1.3

Middle ear air spaces affects middle ear gain

- Static pressure build-up opposes the motion of the tympanic membrane
- A small air volume can also significantly load the tympanic membrane
○ The TM has to work harder to compress the air into a smaller volume
○ Fluid in the middle ear (otitis media) can increase the hearing thresholds

Protective Mechanism
In response to sustained loud sounds - muscle tension tightens the tympanic membrane acting
through the tendon connecting the hammer and the anvil, repositions the ossicles to pull the stirrup
back, lessening the transfer of force to the oval window on the inner ear.

The Inner Ear - has 2 functional parts:

- The cochlea (hearing)
- The vestibular apparatus (balance), connects to the 3 semi-circular canals and the vestibule

Cochlea is filled with a watery liquid, which moves in response to the vibrations coming from the
middle ear via the oval window.
- As the fluid moves, thousands of hair cells are set in motion, and convert that motion to
electrical signals that are communicated via neurotransmitters to many thousands of nerve
cells
- These primary auditory neurons transform the signals into electrical impulses - action potential

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Auditory System
Psychophysical Laws
• Weber's Law -(difference thresholds) It states that the perception of change in any
given stimulus is always dependent on what that stimulus is. In other words,
whether a change will be noticed is affected by how big, heavy or significant etc.
that something was beforehand and how significant the change.
• Fechner's Law - the sensation experienced is proportional to the logarithm of the
stimulus magnitude.
• Steven Power Law - describes a relationship in psychophysics between an
increased intensity or strength in a physical stimulus and the perceived magnitude
increase in the sensation created by the stimulus.

Weber's Law = is the minimum amount of stimulus intensity needed to produce a

noticeable variation in sensory experience

Fechner's Law

Steven's Power Law

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Auditory System

Conductive Hearing Loss = abnormalities to the tympanic membrane.

- Reduces the effective intensity of the air-conducting signal reaching the cochlea
- Does not affect the bone-conducted signal that does not pass through the outer or middle ear
- e.g. perforated tympanic membranes, fluid in the middle ear system or scarring of the tympanic
membrane

Sensorineural Hearing Loss = abnormality of the auditory nerve or central auditory pathways

Presbycusis (age-related hearing loss) = begins after age 60, more often in men than women

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