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level: Hearing: Sound, Speech, Music

Questions and Answers List

level questions: Hearing: Sound, Speech, Music

Question	Answer
A reflex that protects the ear from intense sounds, via contraction of the stapedius and tenso tympani muscles	Acoustic Reflex
A graph plotting sound pressure level (dB SPL) against the frequency for which a listener percieves constant loundness	Equal-Loudness curve
In reference to hearing, the magnitude of displacement of a sound pressure wave. Aplitude is perceived as LOUDNESS	Amplitude or Intensity
The lowest sound pressure level that can be reliably detected at a given frequency	Audibility Threshold
A collection of neurons that convey information from hair cells in the cochlear to (afferent) and from (efferent) the brain stem	Auditory Nerve
A plate of fibers that forms the base of the cochlear partition and separates the middle and tympanic canals in the cochlea	Basilar Membrane
A region of cortex, directly adjacent to the primary auditory cortex (A1), with inputs from A1, where neurons respond to more complex characteristics of sounds	Belt Area
The frequency to which a particular auditory nerve fiber is most sensitive	Characteristic Frequency (CF)
The first brain stem nucleus at which afferent auditory nerve fibers synapse	Cochlear Nucleus
The combined basilar membrane, tectorial membrane and organ of Corti which are togetyher responsible for the transuction of sounds waves into neural signals	Cochlear partition
Hearing loss caused by problems with the bones of the middle ear	Conductive Hearing Loss
The range of frequencies conveyed within a channel in the auditory system	Critical Bandwidth
For sound, the number of times per secon that a pattern of pressure change repeats: PITCH	Frequency
The lowest-frequency component of a complex periodic sound	Fundamental Frequency
The spectrum of a complex sound in which energy is at integer multiples of the fundamental frequency	Harmonic Spectrum
The opening that connects the tympanic and vestibular canals at the apex of the cochlea	Helicotrema
The receptive field is a portion of sensory space that can elicit neuronal responses when stimulated.	Receptive Fields
An Auditory nerve fiber that has a high rate of spontaneous firing; high spontaenous fibers increase their firing rate in response to relatively low levels of sound	High-Spontaenous Fiber
The middle of the three ossicles, connecting the malleus and the stapes	Incus
A midbrain necleus in the auditory pathway	Inferior Colliculus
A hollow cavity in the temporal bone of the skiull, and the structures within this caity; the cochlear and the semicircular canals of the vestibular system canals	Inner Ear
A map plotting the firing rate of an auditory nerve fiber against varying frequencies at varying intensities	Isointensity Curve
An auditory nerve fiber that has a low rate of spontaneous firing; low-spontaneous fibers require relatively intrense sound before they will fire at higher rates	low-spontaneous fiber
One of the three ossicles. The malleus receives vibration from the tympanic membrane and is attached to the incus	Malleus
Using a second sound, frequently noise, to make the deterction of another sound more difficult	Masking
The part of the Thalamus that relays auditory signals to the temporal cortex and receives input from the auditory cortex	Medical Geniculate Nucleus
An auditory nerve fiber that has a medium rate (10-30 spikes per second) of spontaenous firing. This characteristics of mid-spontaenous fibers are intermeditate between low and high-spontaneous fibers	Mid-spontaenous fiber
One of three fluid-filled passages in the ochlea. The middle canal is sandwiched between the tympanic and vestibular canals and contains the cochlear partition. Also called the scala media	Middle Canal
An air-filled chamber containing the middle bones, or ossicles. The middle ear conveys and amplifies vibration from the tympanic membrane to the oval window	Middle Ear
A structure on the basila membrane of the cochlea that is composed of hair cells and dendrites of auditory nerve fibers	Organ of Corti
Any of three tiny bones of the middle ear: Malleus, incus and stapes	Ossicle
Inflammation of the middle ear, commonly in children as a result of infection	Otitis Media
Abnormal growth of the middle ear bones that causes hearing loss	Otosclerosis
The external sound-gathering portion of the ear, consisting of the pinna and the ear canal	Outer Ear
The flexible opening to the cochlea through which the stapes transmits vibration to the fluid inside	Oval window
A region of cortex, lateral and adjacent to the belt area, where neurons respond to more complex characteristics of sounds, as well as to input from other senses	Parabelt area
Firing of a single neuron at one distinct point in the period (cycle) of a sound wave at a given frequency. The neuron need not fire on every cycle, but each firing will occur at the same point in the cycle	Phase locking
the outer, funnel-like part of the ear	Pinna (pl. pinnae)
Tuning of different parts of the cochlea to different frequencies, in which information about the particular frequency of an incoming sound wave is coded by the place along the cochlear partition that has the greatest mechanical displacement	Place code
The first area within the temporal lobes of the brain responsible for processing acoustic information	Primary Auditory Cortex (A1)
The study of the psychological correlates of the physical dimensions of acoustics; a branch of psychophysics	Psychoacoustics
The point at which a nerve fiber is firing as rapidly as possible and further stimulation is incapable of increasing the firing rate	Rate saturation
A graph plotting the firing rate of an auditory nerve fiber in response to a sound of constant frequency at increasing intensities	Rate-intensity function
A thin sheath of tissue separating the vestibular and middle canals in the cochlea	Reissner's membrane
A soft area of tissue at the base of the tympanic canal that releases excess pressure remaining from extremely intense sounds	Round window
Hearing loss due to defects in the cochlea or auditory nerve	Sensorineural hearing loss
A representation of the relative energy (intensity) present at each frequency	Spectrum
The muscle attached to the sapes; tensing the sapedius decreases vibration	Stapedius
One of the three ossicles. Connected to the incus on one end, the stapes presses against the oval window of the cochlea and on the other end	Stapes
Any of the hairlike extensions on the tips of hair cells in the cochlea that, when flexed, initiate the release of neurotransmitters	Stereocilium
An early brain stem region in the auditory pathway were inputs from both ears converge	Suprerior Olive
A gelatinous structure, attached on one end, that extends into the middle canal of the ear, floating above inner hair cells and touching outer hair cells	Tectorial membrane
Tuning of different parts of the cochlea to different frequencies, in which information about the particular frequency of an incoming sound wave is coded by the timing of neural firing as it relates to the preiod of the sound	Temporal code
The process by which a sound at a constant level is perceived as being louder when it is of greater duration. The term also applies to perceived brightness, which depends on the duration of light	Temporal integration
The muscle attached to the malleus; tensing the tensor tympanic decreases the vibration	Tensor tympani
A graph plotting the thresholds of a neuron or fiber in response to sine waves with varying frquencies at the lowest intensity that will give rise to a response	Threshold tuning curve
The psychological sensation by which a listener can judge that two sounds with the same loudness and pitch are dissimilar. Timbre quality is conveyed by harmonics and other high frequencies	Timbre
A tiny filament that stretched from the tip of stereocilium to the side of its neighbour	Tip link
An arrangement in which neurons that respond to different frequencies are organised anatomically in order of frequency	Tonotopic organisation
A decrease in the firing rate of one auditory nerve fiber due to one tone, when a second tone is presented at the same time	Two-tone suppression
One of three fluid-filled passages in the cochlea. The tympanic canal extends from the round window at the base of the cochlea to the helicotrema at the apex. Also called the scala tympani	Tympanic canal
The eardrum; a thin sheet of skin at the end of the outer ear canal. The tympanic membrane vibrates in response to sound	Tympanic membrane
One of three fluid-filled passages in the cochlea. The vestibular canal extends from the oval windo w at the base of the cochlea to the helicotrema at the apex. Also called scala vestibuli	Vestibular canal
The idea that multiple neurons can provide a temporal code for frequency if each neuyron fires at a distince point in the period of a sound wave but does not fire on every period	Volley principle
The very rapid motor response to a sudden sound. Very few neurons are involved in the basic startle reflex, which can also be affected by emotional state	Acoustic Startle Reflex
The part of a sound during which amplitude increases (onset)	Attack
The perceptual organisation of a complex acoustic signal into separate auditory events for which each stream is heard as a separate event	Auditory stream segregation
The angle of a sound source on the horizontal plane relative to a point in the center of the head between the ears. Azimuth is measured in degrees, with 0 degrees being straight ahead. The angle increases clockwise toward the right, with 180 degrees being directly behind	Azimuth
Gestalt grouping rule stating that the tendency of sounds to group together will increase if they begin and/or at the same time	Common fate
A region of positions in space where all sounds produce the same time and level (intensity) differences (ITDs and ILDs)	Cone of confusion
The part of a sound during which aplitude decreases (offset)	Decay
A measure that describes how the pinna, ear canal, head and torso change the intensity of sounds with different frequncies that arrive at each ear from different locations in space (azimuth and elevation)	Directional transfer function (DTF)
1. In reference to vision, Gestalt grouping rule stating that two elements will tend to group together if they to lie on the same contour. 2. In reference to hearing, a Gestalt grouping rule stating that sounds will tend to group together as continuous if they seem to share a common path, similar to a shared contour for vision	Good continuation
The difference in level (intensity) between a sound arriving at one ear versus the other	Interaural level difference (ILD)
The difference in time between a sound arriving at one ear versus the other	Interaural time difference (ITD)
A principle stating that as a distance from a source increases, intensity decreases faster such that decrease in intensity is equal to the distance squared. This general law also applies to optics and other forms of energy	Inverse-square law
A relay station in the brain stem where inputs from both ears contribute to detection of the interaural level difference	Lateral superior olive (LSO)
A relay station in the brain stem where inputs from both ears contribute to detection of the interaural time difference	Medial superior olive (MSO)
A Gestalt grouping rule stating that the tendency of two features to group together will increase as the similarity between them increases. For example, in hearing, the tendency of two sounds to group together will increase as the acoustic similarity between them increases	Similarity
Processing an auditory sccene consisting of multiple sound sources into separate sound images	Source segregation or auditory scene analysis
A rare ability whereby some people are able to very accurately name or produce notes without comparison to other notes	Absolute pitch (AP)
The act or manner of producing a speech sound using the vocal tract	Articulation
For speech as well as other complex sounds and images, the phenomenon by which the discrimination of items is no better than the ability to label items	Categorical perception
A combination of three or more musical notes with different pitches played simultaneously	Chord
The phenomenon in speech whereby attributes of successive speech units overlap in articulatory or acoustic patterns	Coarticulation
A resonance of the vocal tract. Formants are specified by their center frequency and are denoted by integers that increase with relative frequency	Formant
A sequence of notes or chords perceived as a single coherent structure	Melody
The interval between two sound frequences having a ratio of 2:1	Octave
The process through which vocal folds are made to vibrate when air pushes out of the lungs	Phonation
In sound analysis, a three dimensional display that plots time on the horizontal axis, frequency on the vertical axis and amplitude on a colour or gray scale	Spectrogram
Any deviation from a regular rhythm	Syncopation
The perceived speed of the presentation of sounds	Tempo
A sound quality shared by tones that have the same octave interval	Tone chroma
A sound quality corresponding to the level of pitch. Tone height is monotonically related to frequency	Tone height
The airway above the larynx used for the production of speech. Includes the oral tract and nasal tract	Vocal tract