Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 9, 2026

In Vitro Wedge Slice Preparation for Mimicking In Vivo Neuronal Circuit Connectivity
Published on: August 18, 2020
Maintaining intelligibility at high speech intensities: evidence of lateral inhibition in the lower auditory pathway
James A Bashford1, Richard M Warren, Peter W Lenz
1Psychology Department, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, P.O. Box 413, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201, USA. bashford@uwm.edu
Abstract:
Three experiments examined the intelligibility enhancement produced when noise bands flank high intensity narrowband speech. Enhancement was unaffected by noise gating (experiment 1), ruling out peripheral adaptation as a source, and was also unaffected by interaural decorrelation of noise bands flanking diotic speech (experiment 2), indicating that enhancement occurs prior to binaural processing. These results support previous suggestions that intelligibility loss at high intensities is reduced by lateral inhibition in the cochlear nuclei. Results from a final experiment suggest that this effect is only ipsilateral, implicating a specific population of inhibitory neurons.
Related Concept Videos
Auditory Pathway
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking the...
The Cochlea
Hearing
Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location
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...
Sound Intensity Level
The human ear can perceive an extensive range of sound intensity, necessitating the use of the logarithmic scale to define a physical quantity—the intensity level. It is a ratio of two intensities and hence a...
Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language
Language formation and comprehension take place in the dominant hemisphere. The dominant hemisphere is responsible for understanding the meaning of spoken, written, or sign language, as well as the ability to communicate. For most people, the left hemisphere is the dominant one. The right hemisphere, then, gives tone and emotional context to the...
