Do you hear what I hear?

:
A lecture on the auditory sense
Psychology 135
C.F.Tiangco
UPDEPP
Name that sound!
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The characteristics of sounds enable us to
locate, identify, and react to the objects or
people from which they arise.

For this reason, hearing plays a very

important role in defining your perceptual
world throughout your lifetime.
An old puzzle
If a tree falls in the forest but no one is
around to hear it, does the tree make a
sound?
 Auditory Stimulus
Sound refers to a perceptual
experience, which requires
the presence of a perceiver
to perceive the disturbance
in air pressure.
Pressure waves are transmitted through media whose
constituent molecules are sufficiently close together to
collide with one another when they are set in motion,
and at the same time, are sufficiently elastic to return
to their original position following disturbance.
Regardless of the medium through which it is propagated
and regardless of the source, sound energy becomes weaker
as it travels farther from its source.

However, sound continues to travel at a constant speed, so

long as it travels in the same medium.
Sound can travel around—and sometimes
through---solid objects.

When sound waves strike a surface, some portion

of the sound waves bounce off the surface
(echoes).
 Sound waves

 Wavelength: The distance between any point

on a wave and the equivalent point on the next
phase.

 Amplitude: The strength or power of a wave

signal.

 Frequency: The number of times the

wavelength occurs in one second. Measured in
kilohertz (Khz), or cycles per second.
The Auditory System: The
EAR
Outer Ear : functions like a directional
microphone that picks up sound and modifies it

- Pinna : corrugations act like small reflecting

surfaces that modify or “color” the complexity of
sound actually entering the ear
- Auditory canal : a slightly bent tube approx. 2.5
cm long and 7 mm in diameter; behaves
somewhat as a resonant pipe
- Eardrum/tympanic membrane : thin, oval-shaped
membrane vibrates when sound pressure waves
strike it
The Middle Ear :

- Ossicles : three smallest bones in the human body, bridging

the gap between the eardrum and oval window
- Eustachian tube: connects middle ear and the throat
More on the role of the ossicles:
- Sound waves travel through the air until
they reach the inner ear
- Liquid offer opposition to the flow of
soundwaves (impedance)
- When the impedances for two media differ,
impedance mismatch results, and sound
waves cannot be readily transmitted from
one medium to another (loss of 30 dB)
More on the role of the ossicles:
- Three important processes help solve the
impedance mismatch prob by increasing the
efficiency with which sound is transmitted to the
inner ear:
(1)The eardrum is somewhat curved, which makes it
respond more efficiently
(2)The three ossicles act like a lever
(3)The force of the relatively large tympanic
membrane is transmitted to the much smaller
region where the stapes meets the oval window of
the cochlea
 tensor tympani

stapedius

In the presence of loud sound,

these two muscles contract
thereby stiffening the eardrum
and restricting the movement of
the ossicles (Acoustic Reflex).
The Inner Ear: consists of a series of hollow
cavities carved into the temporal bone of
the skull.
- Semicircular canals : concerned with the
maintenance of body posture and balance
- Cochlea : a coiled, fluid-filled cavity
containing the specialized receptors for
hearing
1. Auditory canal
2. Ear drum
3. hammer
4. Anvil
5. Stirrup
6. Round window
7. Oval window
8. Semicircular canals
9. Cochlea
10. Eustachian tube
3 chambers of cochlea:
- Vestibular canal
- Cochlear duct
- Tympanic canal

• The chambers run parallel

to one another the entire
length of the cochlea,
except at the apex where
VC and TC merge.
The VC and TC contain the same fluid,
similar in composition to spinal fluid.

The fluid of the CD is chemically

different.

This chemical difference between the

two fluids plays a crucial role in the initial
stage of hearing. Fluids also supply all
the nourishment for cells in the cochlea.
 In cochlear duct
Organ of Corti – transforms
mechanical vibrations into neural
messages that are sent on to the
brain
Major components of the OC:
- A layer of supporting cells resting
on top of the basilar membrane
- Rows of hair cells sticking up from
the supporting cells
- Awning-like membrane arching
over the hair cells (tectorial
membrane)
Two kinds of hair cells
The Hair Cells
- Inner hair cells (IHC)
number about 4,500 and
line up in a single row
that runs the length of
the BM; inner side of the
OC
- Outer hair cells (OHC)
number 15,500 and line
up in anywhere from 3-5
rows; outer side of the
OC
Each IHC is shaped like a flask and is surrounded by
supporting cells.
Each OHC is more cylindrical in shape and each is
surrounded by fluid.
Both IHC and OHC terminate in tiny bristles (cilia).
Only cilia from OHCs actually touch the tectorial
membrane; IHC attached only to the BM
Bending of the cilia constitutes the crucial early event in
the process that leads to hearing, for it is this event that
triggers the electrical signals that travel from the ear to
the brain.
Stimulation produces electrical charges that release
neurotransmitters, chemicals picked up by the nerve
endings leading to the auditory nerve.
Registration of Frequency
and Amplitude
Registration of Frequency
(1) Place Theory – different frequencies of
vibration of the cochlear fluid disturb
different regions of the BM. These
different regions of disturbance activate
different hair cells and hence, different
auditory nerve fibers.
- The theory says that very high sounds
might vibrate one area of the basilar
membrane and that very low sounds
vibrate another area. (Helmholtz version)
Georg von Bekesy:
- Proposed that the vibration pattern of the BM leads to the
stimulation of different places along the membrane.
- There is systematic variation in the stiffness of the membrane.
Because of this, vibration in the cochlea produces a pressure wave
that travels from the stapes to the other end (traveling wave).
(2) Temporal /FrequencyTheory – temporal
structure of some sound is represented by
temporal fluctuations in the firing rates of
auditory nerve fibers
- the stapes taps out a series of beats on the
oval window, and the entire BM dances to that
beat
- assumes that the auditory nerve can fire at
rates of 20 to 20,000 times per second
(Rutherford version). BUT, maximum number
of responses of neuron is 1000 each second.
Wever:
- Proposed a volley principle whereby
clusters of neurons share in producing the
required firing rate.
- However, even with the addition of the
volley principle, the system cannot handle
frequencies above 4000 Hz.
Registration of Amplitude
As stimulus amplitude increases, a greater
number of neural fibers are active and each
neural fiber fires more often.
Auditory Pathways
Neural info is carried out of the inner ear by the
auditory nerve, which branches out into several
different pathways that eventually reconverge at
the auditory cortex

After leaving the inner ear, the auditory nerve

travels to the cochlear nucleus. Here, the
auditory nerve cells transmit their information to
new cells.

The auditory system contains specialized neural

analyzers for locating and identifying sound
sources within the auditory environment
Auditory Pathways
Left auditory nerve projects to the
cochlear nucleus on the L side of
the brain (same for the right)

At processing stages beyond the

cochlear nucleus, auditory system
becomes binaural

Some binaural neurons are

excitatory (prefer low-freq); some
excitatory/inhibitory (prefer high-
freq)
Auditory Pathways
Beyond the cochlear nucleus is
the superior olivary nucleus,
which can compare the
information it receives from
the two ears.

Each superior olivary nucleus

sends its information to an
inferior colliculus, then to the
medial geniculate nucleus of
the thalamus.
Auditory Pathways
Cells in the MGN send
projections to the primary
auditory projection area
(A1/Brodmann’s area 41) of
the temporal cortex of the
brain, where multiple
elementary auditory features
are organized into meaningful
auditory objects.
Hearing Loss
Conduction loss
stems from some
disorder within the
outer or middle ear.
Sensory/neural loss
originates within the
inner ear or in the
auditory portion of
the brain.
 Signs and symptoms of hearing loss may include:
Muffled quality of speech and other sounds
Difficulty understanding words, especially against
background noise or in a crowd of people
Frequently asking others to speak more slowly, clearly
and loudly
Needing to turn up the volume of the television or radio
Withdrawal from conversations
Avoidance of some social settings
Factors that may damage or lead to loss of
the hairs and nerve cells in your inner ear
include:
Aging.
Heredity.
Occupational noises.
Recreational noises.
Some medications.
Some illnesses.
The end (for now).

On to Homework!
Read up on Perceptual
Responses to Sound. Define
the terms below.
1) Case of the missing fundamental
2) Harmonics
3) Equal loudness contour
4) Dissonance
5) Interaural time difference
6) Interaural intensity difference
7) Sound shadow
8) Cone of confusion
9) Auditory adaptation
10) Auditory fatigue