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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.

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...

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...

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.

Somatosensation

Somatosensation

The somatosensory system relays sensory information from the skin, mucous membranes, limbs, and joints. Somatosensation is more familiarly known as the sense of touch. A typical somatosensory pathway includes three types of long neurons: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary neurons have cell bodies located near the spinal cord in groups of neurons called dorsal root ganglia. The sensory neurons of ganglia innervate designated areas of skin called dermatomes.

Interference: Path Lengths

Interference: Path Lengths

Consider two sources of sound, that may or may not be in phase, emitting waves at a single frequency, and consider the frequencies to be the same.
Two special sources may be considered when they are in phase. This can be easily achieved by feeding the two sources from the same source. An example would be synchronizing the two speakers by feeding them with the same source, such as the sound waves produced by a tuning fork. This setup ensures that the two sources have the same frequency and are...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 20, 2026

Somatosensory Event-related Potentials from Orofacial Skin Stretch Stimulation

Somatosensory Event-related Potentials from Orofacial Skin Stretch Stimulation

Published on: December 18, 2015

Temporal factors affecting somatosensory-auditory interactions in speech processing.

Takayuki Ito¹, Vincent L Gracco², David J Ostry²

¹Haskins Laboratories, New Haven , CT, USA.

Frontiers in Psychology

|December 3, 2014

Summary

Somatosensory input from facial movements dynamically influences speech perception. The timing of facial touch and sound is crucial for this somatosensory-auditory interaction in speech processing.

Keywords:

electroencephalography event-related potentials facial skin sensation speech perception speech production

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Auditory Perception
Somatosensory System

Background:

Speech perception integrates auditory and visual cues.
Somatosensory input from orofacial movements also impacts speech perception.
The precise role of temporal relationships in somatosensory-auditory speech processing requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the hypothesis that the temporal relationship between orofacial movement and sound processing influences somatosensory-auditory interaction in speech perception.
To examine how synchronous and asynchronous somatosensory-auditory stimulation affects event-related potentials (ERPs).

Main Methods:

Used a robotic device to deliver facial skin somatosensory deformations synchronized or desynchronized (90 ms lag/lead) with auditory stimuli.
Recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) during unisensory (auditory/somatosensory) and multisensory stimulation.
Compared ERPs from multisensory conditions to unisensory controls.

Main Results:

Synchronous multisensory stimulation elicited ERPs significantly different from unisensory stimulation.
The magnitude of ERP differences varied based on the relative timing of somatosensory and auditory stimuli.
Event-related activity changes occurred between 160-220 ms post-somatosensory onset, primarily in the parietal area.

Conclusions:

Somatosensory information dynamically modulates auditory processing during speech perception.
The contribution of somatosensory input to speech processing is dependent on the specific temporal order of sensory inputs.
Findings highlight the importance of precise timing in somatosensory-auditory convergence for speech perception.