Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Auditory Pathway01:15

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...
Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location01:21

Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location

The human brain perceives pitch through two primary mechanisms reflected in place theory and frequency theory. Each mechanism describes how sound waves are interpreted as specific pitches by the brain, offering insights into the intricate processes of auditory perception.
Place theory, or place coding, suggests that different pitches are heard because various sound waves activate specific locations along the cochlea's basilar membrane. The brain determines the pitch of a sound by identifying...
Auditory Perception01:17

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...
Hearing01:31

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 Cochlea01:13

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.
The Vestibular System01:29

The Vestibular System

The vestibular system is a set of inner ear structures that provide a sense of balance and spatial orientation. This system is comprised of structures within the labyrinth of the inner ear, including the cochlea and two otolith organs—the utricle and saccule. The labyrinth also contains three semicircular canals—superior, posterior, and horizontal—that are oriented on different planes.

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by
Same author

Multimodal Psychophysiological Assessment of Craving in Patients With Alcohol Dependence During Virtual Reality Cue Exposure: Exploratory Single-Arm Clinical Study.

JMIR serious games·2026
Same author

Failure to detect entorhinal grid-like signals in a passive navigation human fMRI study.

Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)·2026
Same author

rTCT: Rodent Triangle Completion Task to Facilitate Reverse Translational Study of Path Integration.

Hippocampus·2026
Same author

Hallmarks of healthy cognitive aging: Inter-individual differences in aging trajectories.

Ageing research reviews·2026
Same author

Individual Brain Charting: fifth release of high-resolution fMRI data for cognitive mapping.

Scientific data·2026
Same author

[How extended reality applications make a difference in psychotherapy].

Der Nervenarzt·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 13, 2026

A Method to Study Adaptation to Left-Right Reversed Audition
07:14

A Method to Study Adaptation to Left-Right Reversed Audition

Published on: October 29, 2018

Decoding the direction of auditory motion in blind humans.

Thomas Wolbers1, Pavel Zahorik, Nicholas A Giudice

  • 1Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems & Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. twolbers@ed.ac.uk

Neuroimage
|May 11, 2010
PubMed
Summary

Blind individuals process auditory motion direction in the occipito-temporal cortex. This brain region, similar to visual motion processing areas, decodes sound direction, aiding nonvisual perception.

More Related Videos

Development of an Audio-based Virtual Gaming Environment to Assist with Navigation Skills in the Blind
09:01

Development of an Audio-based Virtual Gaming Environment to Assist with Navigation Skills in the Blind

Published on: March 27, 2013

An Automated System for Sound Localization Testing in Hearing-Impaired Listeners
07:52

An Automated System for Sound Localization Testing in Hearing-Impaired Listeners

Published on: March 13, 2026

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 13, 2026

A Method to Study Adaptation to Left-Right Reversed Audition
07:14

A Method to Study Adaptation to Left-Right Reversed Audition

Published on: October 29, 2018

Development of an Audio-based Virtual Gaming Environment to Assist with Navigation Skills in the Blind
09:01

Development of an Audio-based Virtual Gaming Environment to Assist with Navigation Skills in the Blind

Published on: March 27, 2013

An Automated System for Sound Localization Testing in Hearing-Impaired Listeners
07:52

An Automated System for Sound Localization Testing in Hearing-Impaired Listeners

Published on: March 13, 2026

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Auditory Perception
  • Visual Impairment

Background:

  • Accurate processing of nonvisual stimuli is crucial for individuals with visual impairments.
  • Moving sounds activate the occipito-temporal region (hMT+) in the blind, but its functional role in motion processing is unclear.
  • Directional selectivity is a key property of visual motion processing in area MT+.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether the dorsal occipito-temporal region in blind individuals retains functional properties for directional selectivity of auditory motion.
  • To determine if auditory motion direction can be decoded from brain activity in this region.

Main Methods:

  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure brain activity.
  • Multivariate pattern classification was employed to decode the direction of moving sounds.
  • Control analyses were conducted in the posterior parietal cortex and with static sounds.

Main Results:

  • The direction of auditory motion was reliably decoded from dorsal occipito-temporal activation in blind individuals.
  • Classification performance was at chance in the posterior parietal cortex.
  • Decoding failed when auditory motion cues were absent, indicating specificity to motion direction.

Conclusions:

  • The dorsal occipito-temporal cortex in blind humans contains information about auditory motion direction.
  • This area, analogous to hMT+ in sighted individuals, plays a critical role in perceiving moving nonvisual stimuli.
  • Findings highlight cross-modal plasticity and the brain's capacity to adapt sensory processing.