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

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...
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.
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.
Perception of Sound Waves01:01

Perception of Sound Waves

The human ear is not equally sensitive to all frequencies in the audible range. It may perceive sound waves with the same pressure but different frequencies as having different loudness. Moreover, the perception of sound waves depends on the health of an individual's ears, which decays with age. The health of one's ears may also be affected by regular exposure to loud noises.
The pitch of a sound depends on the frequency and the pressure amplitude of the source. Two sounds of the same frequency...
Neuroplasticity01:01

Neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity reflects the brain's remarkable capacity to adapt and evolve, responding dynamically to learning, experiences, or injury by reorganizing its neural circuitry. This reorganization involves creating new neural connections and refining old ones through a series of biological processes that contribute to the brain's lifelong development and adaptability.

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by
Same author

Population Dynamics in Songbird RA and HVC During Learned Motor-Vocal Behavior.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same author

An ancient dog breed regulates pitch when howling with music.

Current biology : CB·2026
Same author

The effects of target range on a jitter discrimination task in echolocating bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus).

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America·2025
Same author

The effects of inter-highlight interval and phase on echolocating bottlenose dolphins performing a two-highlight echo discrimination task.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America·2025
Same author

Laurel-Yanny percept affects the speech-to-song illusion, but musical anhedonia does not.

Scientific reports·2025
Same author

Expectation-driven sensory adaptations support enhanced acuity during categorical perception.

Nature neuroscience·2025
Same journal

People make graded judgments about the inconceivable.

Cognition·2026
Same journal

The self as an image: Appearance and belief in visual representations of one's own face.

Cognition·2026
Same journal

Corrigendum to 'Consonant, vowel, and tone cues in early wordform recognition: Evidence from Cantonese-learning infants' [Cognition 275 (2026) 106624].

Cognition·2026
Same journal

Identifying distinct sources of whole number interference in children's decimal comparison: the role of numerical magnitude and inhibitory control.

Cognition·2026
Same journal

Evidence for abstract spatial concept learning in young animals.

Cognition·2026
Same journal

Blurred lines or clear boundaries? Synchrony and social dominance shape domain-specific self-other processing.

Cognition·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 29, 2026

A Lightweight, Headphones-based System for Manipulating Auditory Feedback in Songbirds
10:13

A Lightweight, Headphones-based System for Manipulating Auditory Feedback in Songbirds

Published on: November 26, 2012

Stimulus-dependent flexibility in non-human auditory pitch processing.

Micah R Bregman1, Aniruddh D Patel, Timothy Q Gentner

  • 1Department of Cognitive Science, UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States.

Cognition
|September 14, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Songbirds can recognize pitch-shifted conspecific songs, challenging previous assumptions about their auditory processing. This vocal learning flexibility depends on the type of sound stimulus presented.

More Related Videos

Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses
14:05

Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses

Published on: January 23, 2017

A Low Cost Setup for Behavioral Audiometry in Rodents
09:23

A Low Cost Setup for Behavioral Audiometry in Rodents

Published on: October 16, 2012

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 29, 2026

A Lightweight, Headphones-based System for Manipulating Auditory Feedback in Songbirds
10:13

A Lightweight, Headphones-based System for Manipulating Auditory Feedback in Songbirds

Published on: November 26, 2012

Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses
14:05

Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses

Published on: January 23, 2017

A Low Cost Setup for Behavioral Audiometry in Rodents
09:23

A Low Cost Setup for Behavioral Audiometry in Rodents

Published on: October 16, 2012

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Animal Behavior
  • Bioacoustics

Background:

  • Songbirds and humans exhibit similarities in vocal learning and auditory processing.
  • A notable difference lies in recognizing pitch-shifted acoustic sequences; humans excel, while songbirds perform poorly with simple tones.
  • Previous research primarily used sine-tone stimuli, potentially underestimating songbirds' tolerance for pitch shifts in natural vocalizations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the pitch processing capabilities of European starlings using natural conspecific songs.
  • To determine if songbirds' tolerance to pitch shifts differs between natural songs and human-generated melodies.
  • To explore the stimulus-dependent nature of pitch processing flexibility in songbirds.

Main Methods:

  • European starlings were trained to recognize conspecific songs with varying degrees of pitch shift (±40%).
  • Recognition accuracy was tested using pitch-shifted songs outside the training frequency range.
  • A comparative analysis was conducted using human piano melodies with similar pitch shifts.

Main Results:

  • Starlings accurately recognized conspecific songs even when pitch-shifted significantly beyond training parameters.
  • Recognition of pitch-shifted human piano melodies was severely limited under similar conditions.
  • Detection of much smaller pitch shifts in conspecific songs is typically facile for starlings.

Conclusions:

  • Songbird pitch processing is more adaptable than previously believed, particularly with natural vocal signals.
  • Pitch processing strategies in songbirds are stimulus-dependent, showing greater flexibility for conspecific songs.
  • This study highlights the importance of using ecologically relevant stimuli in auditory perception research.