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 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...
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...
Hair Cells01:22

Hair Cells

Hair cells are the sensory receptors of the auditory system—they transduce mechanical sound waves into electrical energy that the nervous system can understand. Hair cells are located in the organ of Corti within the cochlea of the inner ear, between the basilar and tectorial membranes. The actual sensory receptors are called inner hair cells. The outer hair cells serve other functions, such as sound amplification in the cochlea, and are not discussed in detail here.

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by
Same author

Domains of Psychosocial Risk in School-Aged Cochlear Implant Users.

Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR·2026
Same author

Signatures of adaptive memory search: How early linguistic input shapes strategic use of lexical information.

Journal of experimental psychology. General·2026
Same author

Elliptical speech reveals the use of broad phonetic categories aids noise-degraded speech perception.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Understanding Variability in Long-Term Psychological Adjustment of Prelingually Deaf Young Adults Implanted During Childhood.

Otology & neurotology : official publication of the American Otological Society, American Neurotology Society [and] European Academy of Otology and Neurotology·2025
Same author

Evolving perspectives on speech perception assessment in adults with cochlear implants: Are we using the right tests?

Frontiers in neuroscience·2025
Same author

Externalizing Behaviors in Preschool-Aged Children With Cochlear Implants.

Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 16, 2026

Behavioral Determination of Stimulus Pair Discrimination of Auditory Acoustic and Electrical Stimuli Using a Classical Conditioning and Heart-rate Approach
10:50

Behavioral Determination of Stimulus Pair Discrimination of Auditory Acoustic and Electrical Stimuli Using a Classical Conditioning and Heart-rate Approach

Published on: June 6, 2012

Auditory property detectors and processing place features in stop consonants.

David B Pisoni1, Jeffrey Tash

  • 1Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47401.

Perception & Psychophysics
|December 4, 2012
PubMed
Summary

Selective adaptation shifts phonetic boundaries. Auditory spectral similarity, not phonetic identity, drives adaptation effects, even when acoustic cues are in different speech syllable positions.

More Related Videos

Foreign Accent and Forensic Speaker Identification in Voice Lineups: The Influence of Acoustic Features Based on Prosody
09:09

Foreign Accent and Forensic Speaker Identification in Voice Lineups: The Influence of Acoustic Features Based on Prosody

Published on: September 27, 2024

Quantitative Assessment of Cortical Auditory-tactile Processing in Children with Disabilities
09:38

Quantitative Assessment of Cortical Auditory-tactile Processing in Children with Disabilities

Published on: January 29, 2014

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 16, 2026

Behavioral Determination of Stimulus Pair Discrimination of Auditory Acoustic and Electrical Stimuli Using a Classical Conditioning and Heart-rate Approach
10:50

Behavioral Determination of Stimulus Pair Discrimination of Auditory Acoustic and Electrical Stimuli Using a Classical Conditioning and Heart-rate Approach

Published on: June 6, 2012

Foreign Accent and Forensic Speaker Identification in Voice Lineups: The Influence of Acoustic Features Based on Prosody
09:09

Foreign Accent and Forensic Speaker Identification in Voice Lineups: The Influence of Acoustic Features Based on Prosody

Published on: September 27, 2024

Quantitative Assessment of Cortical Auditory-tactile Processing in Children with Disabilities
09:38

Quantitative Assessment of Cortical Auditory-tactile Processing in Children with Disabilities

Published on: January 29, 2014

Area of Science:

  • Speech Perception
  • Auditory Neuroscience
  • Phonetics

Background:

  • Selective adaptation is a phenomenon where repeated exposure to a stimulus alters perception of subsequent stimuli.
  • Previous research indicated adaptation effects are based on phonetic identity, particularly for consonant-vowel (CV) syllables.
  • The role of acoustic information versus abstract linguistic features in adaptation remains debated.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the influence of acoustic information (formant transitions) on selective adaptation.
  • To determine whether adaptation effects are driven by spectral similarity or phonetic identity.
  • To examine adaptation with stimuli where acoustic cues are presented in different positions.

Main Methods:

  • Participants were exposed to adapting stimuli (CV or VC syllables) under two conditions.
  • Perceptual shifts in the phonetic boundary between /b/ and /d/ were measured.
  • Adapting stimuli varied in the position of critical acoustic information (formant transitions).

Main Results:

  • Repeated presentation of CV syllables shifted the phonetic boundary, replicating prior findings.
  • Adaptation effects were observed even when acoustic information was in the final position of VC syllables.
  • These results suggest spectral similarity, not just phonetic identity, underlies adaptation.

Conclusions:

  • Auditory-based mechanisms, relying on spectral similarity, are crucial for selective adaptation.
  • Adaptation is not solely dependent on abstract phonetic representations.
  • The findings support an auditory account of speech perception and adaptation.