The course aims to provide an understanding of the structure and function of the human ear, neural processing of auditory information, frequency and intensity coding, the central auditory nervous system, auditory perception, psychophysics, and sound localization. Students will learn about sound reception, the anatomy of the cochlea, hair cell tuning, neural transduction, frequency coding, intensity coding, and the perception of intensity and frequency. The teaching method includes lectures, revision questions, and practical experiments. This course is intended for individuals interested in gaining knowledge about hearing, auditory processing, and sound perception.
Overview
Syllabus
- Introduction
- Learning outcomes
- 1 Sound reception: the ear
- 1 Sound reception: the ear
- 2 Structure and function
- 2 Structure and function
- 2.1 Structure and function of the outer and middle ear
- 3 The structure and function of the inner ear
- 3 The structure and function of the inner ear
- 3.1 Introduction
- 3.2 The anatomy of the cochlea
- 3.3 The role of the basilar membrane in sound reception
- Summary
- 3.4 The organ of Corti and hair cells
- 3.5 Neural transduction
- 3.5.1 Hair cells transform mechanical energy into neural signals
- 3.5.2 Mechanical force directly opens and closes transduction channels
- 3.5.3 Mechano-electrical transduction is rapid
- 3.6 Synaptic transmission from hair cells
- 3.7 Hair cell tuning
- 3.7.1 Summary of Sections 3.4 to 3.7
- 3.8 Revision questions
- 4 Neural processing of auditory information
- 4 Neural processing of auditory information
- 5 Frequency coding in cochlear nerve fibres
- 5 Frequency coding in cochlear nerve fibres
- 5.1 Place code
- 5.2 Frequency code
- 6 Intensity coding
- 6 Intensity coding
- 6.1 Firing-rate hypothesis
- 6.2 Number of neurons hypothesis
- 6.3 Summary of Sections 4 to 6
- 7 The central auditory nervous system
- 7 The central auditory nervous system
- 7.1 The ascending auditory pathway
- 7.2 Coding of information in the higher auditory centres
- 7.2.1 The ‘what’ pathway
- 7.2.2 The ‘where’ pathway
- 7.3 The descending auditory pathway
- 7.4 Summary of Section 7
- 7.5 More revision questions
- 8 Auditory perception
- 8 Auditory perception
- 8.1 Introduction
- 9 Psychophysics
- 9 Psychophysics
- 9.1 Introduction
- 9.2 Absolute thresholds
- 9.2.1 Method of limits
- 9.2.2 Method of constant stimuli
- 9.3 Differential sensitivity
- 9.3.1 Weber's Law
- 10 The perception of intensity
- 10.1 Absolute thresholds
- 10.2 The relationship between loudness and intensity
- 10.3 Intensity discrimination
- 11 The perception of frequency
- 11.1 The relationship between frequency and pitch
- 11.2 Frequency discrimination
- 11.3 Frequency selectivity
- 11.3.1 A masking experiment
- 11.4 Signal duration
- 11.5 Summary of sections 8 to 11
- 12 Sound localisation
- 12.1 Localisation of sound in the horizontal plane
- 12.2 Interaural time delays: non-continuous sounds
- 12.3 Interaural time delays: continuous tones
- 12.4 Interaural intensity differences
- 12.5 Localisation of sound in the vertical plane
- 12.6 Distance cues
- 12.7 Summary of Section 12
- 12.8 More revision questions
- Acknowledgements
