Auditory Physiology

Auditory Physiology describes the functions of the ear and the auditory nervous system, using well-documented research work. This book explains the physiology of the ear, the general function of the auditory nervous system, and its anatomy. This text also discusses in detail the neurophysiological basis for discriminating frequency and time. This discrimination refers in particular to (1) the ability to distinguish two sounds on the basis of their frequencies when the two sounds are not presented at the same time; and (2) the ability to discriminate one spectral component in a complex sound that contains several spectral components. This book notes that for low frequencies, temporal analysis is more useful in processing complex sounds than the simple determination of energy in different frequency bands. Research shows that particular spatial patterns of response to different characteristic of complex sounds can exist, which are not feature detectors such as neurons specifically tuned to special and complex properties of a certain stimulus. This book can prove beneficial for physiologists, neurobiologists, neurophysiologists, general medical practioners, and EENT specialists.

Table of Contents:
Preface1 Anatomy and General Physiology of the Ear Introduction External Ear and Head Middle Ear The Acoustic Impedance of the Ear Acoustic Middle Ear Reflex The Inner Ear Mechanical Properties of the Basilar Membrane Sensory Transduction in Hair Cells Electrical Potentials in the Cochlea References2 Anatomy and General Function of the Auditory Nervous System Introduction Anatomical Organization of the Ascending Auditory Pathway Frequency Tuning in Response to Simple Stimuli Inhibition Tonotopic Organization Discharge Rate as a Function of Stimulus Intensity (Rate Intensity Curves) Temporal Coding of Frequency of Pure Tones Nonlinearities in the Auditory Periphery Response to Complex Sounds: Time-Varying Sounds Binaural Interaction in the Ascending Auditory Pathway Descending Auditory Nervous System References3 Frequency Analysis in the Peripheral Auditory System Introduction Physiological Measures of the Spectral Selectivity in the Auditory Periphery Spectral Selectivity at the Level of the Neural Transduction Process Bandwidth Values of Cochlear and Neural Tuning as Measures of Frequency Selectivity: Do We Measure Selectivity Correctly? Determination of Auditory Frequency Selectivity Using Psychoacoustical Methods Impulse Response Function of the Peripheral Analyzer Origin of Spectral Tuning in the Auditory Periphery Functional Implications of Basilar Membrane Selectivity Temporal Analysis in the Auditory System Place versus Temporal Principle for Pitch Perception What Information Does the Ear Convey to the Central Auditory Nervous System in the Case of Steady-State Sounds? Conclusion References4 Coding of Complex Sounds in the Auditory Nervous System Introduction Responses to Broadband Sounds in the Auditory Periphery Responses to Tones and Noise with Rapidly Varying Frequency (Sweep Tones and Sweep Noise) Coding of Sound with Varying Intensity Coding of Natural Sounds and Neurophysiological Basis of Speech Perception Signal Processing in the Auditory Nervous System in Summary ReferencesIndex