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

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.
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...
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...
Encoding01:19

Encoding

Information enters the brain through encoding, which is the input of information into the memory system. Once sensory information is received from the environment, the brain labels or codes it. The information is then organized with similar information and connected to existing concepts. Encoding occurs through automatic processing and effortful processing.
Automatic processing involves the encoding of details like time, space, frequency, and the meaning of words, usually done without conscious...
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.

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by
Same author

How (not) to study deviance sensitivity and predictive coding in auditory cortex.

Hearing research·2026
Same author

Thalamic activation of the visual cortex at the single-synapse level.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2026
Same author

A foundation model for continuous glucose monitoring data.

Nature·2026
Same author

Parsing auditory neural code into maximum-entropy packets.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025
Same author

Sound preferences in mice are sex dependent.

Cell reports·2025
Same author

Task-related activity in auditory cortex enhances sound representation.

Science advances·2025
Same journal

Chemotactic self-organization captures the dynamics of mammalian hair follicle patterning.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Tomographic imaging of superconducting order using particle-hole interference.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Inhibitory potential of autologous neutralizing antibodies sets quantitative limits on the rebound-competent HIV-1 reservoir.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Inferring epidemiological parameters under an infectious phylogeography model with visitor dynamics.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Analytical modeling for suction cup designs for skin-interfaced wearable devices.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Improving cell-free metabolism through direct integration of artificial respiratory chains.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 17, 2026

Assessment of Audio-Tactile Sensory Substitution Training in Participants with Profound Deafness Using the Event-Related Potential Technique
11:39

Assessment of Audio-Tactile Sensory Substitution Training in Participants with Profound Deafness Using the Event-Related Potential Technique

Published on: September 7, 2022

Auditory abstraction from spectro-temporal features to coding auditory entities.

Gal Chechik1, Israel Nelken

  • 1The Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan 52900, Israel. gal.chechik@biu.ac.il

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|November 1, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Neurons in the auditory thalamus and cortex process abstract sound features, not just spectro-temporal patterns. This suggests a higher-level auditory processing for behaviorally relevant information.

More Related Videos

Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations
06:34

Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations

Published on: July 1, 2015

Memorization-Based Training and Testing Paradigm for Robust Vocal Identity Recognition in Expressive Speech Using Event-Related Potentials Analysis
05:48

Memorization-Based Training and Testing Paradigm for Robust Vocal Identity Recognition in Expressive Speech Using Event-Related Potentials Analysis

Published on: August 9, 2024

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 17, 2026

Assessment of Audio-Tactile Sensory Substitution Training in Participants with Profound Deafness Using the Event-Related Potential Technique
11:39

Assessment of Audio-Tactile Sensory Substitution Training in Participants with Profound Deafness Using the Event-Related Potential Technique

Published on: September 7, 2022

Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations
06:34

Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations

Published on: July 1, 2015

Memorization-Based Training and Testing Paradigm for Robust Vocal Identity Recognition in Expressive Speech Using Event-Related Potentials Analysis
05:48

Memorization-Based Training and Testing Paradigm for Robust Vocal Identity Recognition in Expressive Speech Using Event-Related Potentials Analysis

Published on: August 9, 2024

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Auditory Neuroscience
  • Computational Neuroscience

Background:

  • The auditory system decodes acoustic stimuli for survival.
  • Auditory cortex activity reflects spectro-temporal sound patterns.
  • The processing of abstract sound features remains largely unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if auditory thalamus and cortex neurons process abstract sound features.
  • To compare information coding for spectro-temporal patterns versus abstract entities.

Main Methods:

  • Recorded neural activity from cat inferior colliculus (IC), medial geniculate body (MGB), and primary auditory cortex (A1).
  • Presented natural sounds including bird chirps, echoes, and ambient noise.
  • Quantified information content in neural spikes for spectro-temporal and abstract features.

Main Results:

  • Inferior colliculus neurons showed similar information for spectro-temporal and abstract features.
  • Medial geniculate body and auditory cortex neurons conveyed three times more information about abstract features than spectro-temporal patterns.
  • A majority of MGB and A1 neurons effectively coded abstract entities.

Conclusions:

  • Auditory thalamus and cortex neurons are sensitive to abstract sound features.
  • This processing suggests a shift towards higher-level auditory perception in these brain regions.
  • The auditory system prioritizes abstract information crucial for behavior.