Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Auditory Pathway

Auditory Pathway

Auditory pathways constitute the complex neural circuits responsible for transmitting and interpreting auditory information from the peripheral auditory system to the brain. Sound waves are initially captured by the outer ear, funneled through the ear canal, and reach the tympanic membrane (eardrum). These vibrations are transmitted via the middle ear's ossicles to the inner ear's cochlea.
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking the...

Hearing

Hearing

When we hear a sound, our nervous system is detecting sound waves—pressure waves of mechanical energy traveling through a medium. The frequency of the wave is perceived as pitch, while the amplitude is perceived as loudness.

The Cochlea

The Cochlea

The cochlea is a coiled structure in the inner ear that contains hair cells—the sensory receptors of the auditory system. Sound waves are transmitted to the cochlea by small bones attached to the eardrum called the ossicles, which vibrate the oval window that leads to the inner ear. This causes fluid in the chambers of the cochlea to move, vibrating the basilar membrane.

Parallel Processing

Parallel Processing

The brain processes sensory information rapidly due to parallel processing, which involves sending data across multiple neural pathways at the same time. This method allows the brain to manage various sensory qualities, such as shapes, colors, movements, and locations, all concurrently. For instance, when observing a forest landscape, the brain simultaneously processes the movement of leaves, the shapes of trees, the depth between them, and the various shades of green. This enables a quick and...

Anatomy of the Ear

Anatomy of the Ear

Auditory sensation, commonly called hearing, involves the transformation of sonic waves into neural impulses facilitated by the structures of the auditory organ. The prominent, flesh-like structure on the side of the head, called the auricle, directs sound waves towards the auditory canal. The auricle is often mislabeled as the pinna, a term more aligned with mobile structures like a feline's external ear. The auditory canal penetrates the cranium via the external auditory meatus of the...

Auditory Perception

Auditory Perception

The auditory system is essential for sound perception, utilizing various critical structures. When sound waves enter the outer ear, they travel through the ear canal and cause the eardrum to vibrate. These vibrations are then transmitted to the middle ear, where three tiny bones – the malleus, incus, and stapes – amplify the sound. This amplification is crucial, as it ensures that the sound vibrations are strong enough to be conveyed to the inner ear. These vibrations then reach the cochlea, a...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Evidence for a Transient State of Auditory Hypersensitivity During Initial Onset of Tinnitus: IDAEP Changes Between Acute and Chronic Tinnitus.

Trends in hearing·2026

Same author

What determines the success of AI voice-cloned speech? Prosodic and acoustic evidence on three TTS systems.

Phonetica·2026

Same author

Stimulus statistical context sensitivity of deviant responses to auditory intensity changes.

Scientific reports·2026

Same author

Eyeblink conditioning is preserved in Parkinson's disease with tremor.

Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology·2026

Same author

Repetition positivity following auditory intensity or frequency changes in young normal-hearing adults.

Frontiers in neuroscience·2026

Same author

Brain reorganization: altered functional connectivity in reward network after stroke.

NeuroImage. Clinical·2025

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 9, 2026

Slicing the Embryonic Chicken Auditory Brainstem to Evaluate Tonotopic Gradients and Microcircuits

Slicing the Embryonic Chicken Auditory Brainstem to Evaluate Tonotopic Gradients and Microcircuits

Published on: July 12, 2022

Segmental processing in the human auditory dorsal stream.

Tino Zaehle¹, Eveline Geiser, Kai Alter

¹Department of Neuropsychology, University of Zurich, Binzmühlestrasse 14/25, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland. tino.zaehle@psychologie.uzh.ch

|December 22, 2007

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study reveals how the brain processes speech and non-speech sounds. Temporal sound features activate a left-hemisphere network, while frequency changes engage bilateral auditory areas.

More Related Videos

Functional Imaging of Auditory Cortex in Adult Cats using High-field fMRI

Functional Imaging of Auditory Cortex in Adult Cats using High-field fMRI

Published on: February 19, 2014

Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations

Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations

Published on: July 1, 2015

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 9, 2026

Slicing the Embryonic Chicken Auditory Brainstem to Evaluate Tonotopic Gradients and Microcircuits

Slicing the Embryonic Chicken Auditory Brainstem to Evaluate Tonotopic Gradients and Microcircuits

Published on: July 12, 2022

Functional Imaging of Auditory Cortex in Adult Cats using High-field fMRI

Functional Imaging of Auditory Cortex in Adult Cats using High-field fMRI

Published on: February 19, 2014

Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations

Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations

Published on: July 1, 2015

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Auditory Perception
Speech Processing

Background:

Understanding the brain's auditory processing is key to deciphering speech perception.
Sublexical auditory processing involves analyzing fine-grained acoustic features.
The role of specific brain networks in processing temporal vs. spectral sound information is under investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the functional organization of sublexical auditory perception.
To examine auditory spectro-temporal processing in both speech and non-speech sounds.
To test the hypothesis of a left-hemispheric dorsal network involvement in temporal feature discrimination.

Main Methods:

Sparse event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed.
Participants discriminated auditory stimuli (verbal and nonverbal) based on spectral or temporal features.
Brain activity was measured during auditory discrimination tasks.

Main Results:

Discriminating sounds based on temporal acoustic features activated the left-hemispheric dorsal network (inferior frontal cortex, parietal operculum).
Discriminating sounds based on spectral changes (frequency content) resulted in bilateral activations in the middle temporal gyrus and superior temporal sulcus.
These findings support the involvement of the dorsal pathway in segmental analysis of both speech and non-speech sounds.

Conclusions:

The dorsal pathway is involved in the segmental, sublexical analysis of speech sounds.
The dorsal pathway also plays a role in the segmental acoustic analysis of non-speech sounds with similar spectro-temporal characteristics.
Auditory processing differentiates based on whether temporal or spectral acoustic features are prioritized.