Download Box 9.1 The Basics of Sound (Part 1)

Evolution of the Vestibular and
Auditory End Organs
External and Internal Structures of the Human Ear
External and Internal Structures of the Human Ear (Part 3)
P. 259 third paragraph “The oval window is adjacent to the base
of the spiral, where the canals and membranes narrow; …”
External and Internal Structures of the Human Ear (Part 4)
External and Internal Structures of the Human Ear (Part 5)
How Stereocilia Sense Auditory Stimulation
Auditory Nerve Fibers and Synapses in the Organ of Corti
Dancing Outer Hair Cell - Video
Basilar Membrane Movement for Sounds of
Different Frequencies
Basilar Membrane is five times wider at the apex
Auditory neurons have tonotopic organization.
Can hear sounds in a range from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz
http://neuroscience.uth.tmc.edu/s2/chapter12.html
Examples of Tuning Curves of Auditory Neurons
Auditory Pathways of the Human Brain
Tonotopic Mapping in the Cat Inferior Colliculus
Tonotopic Organization of Auditory Cortical Regions in
Three Species of Mammals
Long-Term Retention of a Trained Shift in Tuning of
an Auditory Receptive Field
Auditory-Object Perception
• Auditory object is the fundamental perceptual unit in hearing
• Similar to visual objects although made up of
spectrotemporal regularities
• Auditory scene contains numerous acoustic stimuli
• Activity in auditory circuits represents auditory objects
• Neural responses become correlated with a listener's perceptual
reports at the level of the cortex
Figure 9.18 Structures of the Vestibular System
Nerve Fibers from the Vestibular Portion of the
Vestibulocochlear Nerve (VIII) Synapse in the Brainstem
• Nerve fibers from vestibular receptors synapse in
• the vestibular nuclei in the brainstem
• some fibers go directly to the cerebellum.
• The vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) allows you
to gaze at a fixed point while the head moves.
The Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex