Back to Search
Start Over
Mammalian behavior and physiology converge to confirm sharper cochlear tuning in humans
- Source :
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Publication Year :
- 2018
- Publisher :
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2018.
-
Abstract
- Significance Sound consists of a dynamic stream of energy at different frequencies. Auditory processing of sound frequency is critical in determining our ability to interact and communicate in a complex acoustic world, yet fundamental gaps remain in our understanding of how this is achieved. Indeed, the resolving power of the system, how best to measure it, and the mechanisms that underlie it are all still debated. Here, we provide critical evidence demonstrating that humans can resolve the frequency components of competing sounds better than other commonly studied mammals. This finding raises important questions both for theories of auditory perception and for our understanding of the evolutionary relationships between the auditory system and acoustic communication, including speech.<br />Frequency analysis of sound by the cochlea is the most fundamental property of the auditory system. Despite its importance, the resolution of this frequency analysis in humans remains controversial. The controversy persists because the methods used to estimate tuning in humans are indirect and have not all been independently validated in other species. Some data suggest that human cochlear tuning is considerably sharper than that of laboratory animals, while others suggest little or no difference between species. We show here in a single species (ferret) that behavioral estimates of tuning bandwidths obtained using perceptual masking methods, and objective estimates obtained using otoacoustic emissions, both also employed in humans, agree closely with direct physiological measurements from single auditory-nerve fibers. Combined with human behavioral data, this outcome indicates that the frequency analysis performed by the human cochlea is of significantly higher resolution than found in common laboratory animals. This finding raises important questions about the evolutionary origins of human cochlear tuning, its role in the emergence of speech communication, and the mechanisms underlying our ability to separate and process natural sounds in complex acoustic environments.
- Subjects :
- cochlear tuning
Computer science
Property (programming)
Otoacoustic Emissions, Spontaneous
Perceptual Masking
otoacoustic emissions
01 natural sciences
law.invention
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Hearing
law
0103 physical sciences
otorhinolaryngologic diseases
medicine
Animals
Humans
Auditory system
Psychoacoustics
Natural sounds
010301 acoustics
Cochlea
Mammals
Frequency analysis
Multidisciplinary
Auditory Threshold
psychoacoustics
Acoustics
Biological Sciences
frequency selectivity
Sound
medicine.anatomical_structure
Behavioral data
Acoustic Stimulation
MRC Institute of Hearing Research
auditory nerve
Neuroscience
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 10916490 and 00278424
- Volume :
- 115
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....28706c6868c03bcdc2c30c9efac3e0dc
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1810766115