Auditory Physiology

Book excerpt: 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.