Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Auditory Pathway

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...

The Cochlea

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 Perception

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...

Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location

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...

Hearing

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 Vestibular System

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

Abnormal Hearing Phenotypes in "Ignorome" Knockout Mice as Predictors of Cognitive Dysfunction.

Genes, brain, and behavior·2026

Same author

Differences in hearing across the lifespan in two strains of Alzheimer's mouse models as measured using behavioral and physiological techniques.

Hearing research·2026

Same author

Novel Electronic Health Record-Based Data Commons for Pancreatic Cancer.

JCO clinical cancer informatics·2026

Same author

Delirium identification among older adults hospitalized while incarcerated.

Delirium communications·2025

Same author

Characterization of idiopathic chronic diarrhea and associated intestinal inflammation and preliminary observations of effects of vagal nerve stimulation in a non-human primate.

Neurogastroenterology and motility·2024

Same author

The perception of ultrasonic vocalizations by laboratory mice following intense noise exposures.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America·2024

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 9, 2026

Long-range Channelrhodopsin-assisted Circuit Mapping of Inferior Colliculus Neurons with Blue and Red-shifted Channelrhodopsins

Long-range Channelrhodopsin-assisted Circuit Mapping of Inferior Colliculus Neurons with Blue and Red-shifted Channelrhodopsins

Published on: February 7, 2020

The inferior colliculus encodes the Franssen auditory spatial illusion.

Abigail Z Rajala¹, Yonghe Yan², Micheal L Dent³

¹Neuroscience Training Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.

The European Journal of Neuroscience

|August 1, 2013

Summary

The Franssen illusion (FI), an auditory spatial illusion, is perceived similarly by humans and monkeys. Neural recordings reveal the inferior colliculus

Keywords:

auditory spatial illusion inferior colliculus monkey

More Related Videos

Calcium Imaging in Mouse Superior Colliculus

Calcium Imaging in Mouse Superior Colliculus

Published on: April 21, 2023

Manufacturing and Using Piggy-back Multibarrel Electrodes for In vivo Pharmacological Manipulations of Neural Responses

Manufacturing and Using Piggy-back Multibarrel Electrodes for In vivo Pharmacological Manipulations of Neural Responses

Published on: January 18, 2013

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 9, 2026

Long-range Channelrhodopsin-assisted Circuit Mapping of Inferior Colliculus Neurons with Blue and Red-shifted Channelrhodopsins

Long-range Channelrhodopsin-assisted Circuit Mapping of Inferior Colliculus Neurons with Blue and Red-shifted Channelrhodopsins

Published on: February 7, 2020

Calcium Imaging in Mouse Superior Colliculus

Calcium Imaging in Mouse Superior Colliculus

Published on: April 21, 2023

Manufacturing and Using Piggy-back Multibarrel Electrodes for In vivo Pharmacological Manipulations of Neural Responses

Manufacturing and Using Piggy-back Multibarrel Electrodes for In vivo Pharmacological Manipulations of Neural Responses

Published on: January 18, 2013

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Auditory Perception
Psychoacoustics

Background:

Illusions provide insights into neural mechanisms of perception by correlating neural responses with stimuli and perception.
The Franssen illusion (FI) is an auditory spatial illusion where a transient tone and a sustained tone of the same frequency presented simultaneously on opposite sides are perceived as originating from the transient tone's side.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the neural mechanisms underlying the Franssen illusion.
To determine if subcortical structures play a role in the perception of the FI.
To compare the perception of the FI in humans and non-human primates.

Main Methods:

Presented the Franssen stimulus to rhesus monkeys.
Recorded single-unit activity in the inferior colliculus.
Monkeys indicated perceived sound source location using gaze behavior.

Main Results:

Humans and rhesus monkeys demonstrated similar perception of the Franssen illusion.
The transient component of the Franssen stimulus, characterized by shorter first spike latency and higher discharge rate, encoded perceived sound location.
Persistent misperception of the sustained tone's location resulted from continued neuronal excitation by the sustained stimulus without location information.

Conclusions:

The inferior colliculus, a subcortical structure, plays a crucial role in the neural processing of the Franssen illusion.
Neural responses in the inferior colliculus correlate with the perceived location of sound sources in the context of the FI.
This study provides the first trial-by-trial evidence linking subcortical neural activity to the perception of an auditory spatial illusion.