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Related Concept Videos

Sound Intensity Level00:53

Sound Intensity Level

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Humans perceive sound by hearing. The human ear helps sound waves reach the brain, which then interprets the waves and creates the perception of hearing. The loudness of the environment in which a person is located determines whether they can distinguish between different sound sources.
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...
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Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location01:21

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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...
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Echo01:06

Echo

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The human ear cannot distinguish between two sources of sound if they happen to reach within a specific time interval, typically 0.1 seconds apart. More than this, and they are perceived as separate sources.
Imagine the sound is reflected back to the ears. Assuming that the source is very close to the human, the difference between hearing the two sounds—the emitted sound and the reflected sound—may be more than the minimum time for perceiving distinct sounds. If this is the case,...
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Sound Intensity00:58

Sound Intensity

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The loudness of a sound source is related to how energetically the source is vibrating, consequently making the molecules of the propagation medium vibrate. To measure the loudness of a source, the physical quantity of interest is the intensity. This is defined as the energy emitted per unit of time per unit of area perpendicular to the sound wave's propagation direction. Since the total energy is greater if the source vibrates for a longer duration and over a larger area, dividing the...
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Perception of Sound Waves01:01

Perception of Sound Waves

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The human ear is not equally sensitive to all frequencies in the audible range. It may perceive sound waves with the same pressure but different frequencies as having different loudness. Moreover, the perception of sound waves depends on the health of an individual's ears, which decays with age. The health of one's ears may also be affected by regular exposure to loud noises.
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The Cochlea01:13

The Cochlea

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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.
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Sound Source Localization Testing in Single-sided Deafness Following Bone Conduction Intervention
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Sound Source Localization Testing in Single-sided Deafness Following Bone Conduction Intervention

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Binaural Loudness Constancy.

John F Culling1, Helen Dare2

  • 1School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Tower Building, Park Place, CF10 3AT, Cardiff, UK. CullingJ@cf.ac.uk.

Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology
|April 16, 2016
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Binaural loudness summation typically increases loudness, but this study found loudness constancy with loudspeaker presentation. This suggests cognitive factors and residual low frequencies contribute to loudness perception when one ear is occluded.

Keywords:
Loudness summationMeatal occlusionMonauralPerceptual constancyVirtual acoustics

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Area of Science:

  • Auditory perception
  • Psychoacoustics
  • Binaural hearing

Background:

  • Binaural loudness summation usually enhances perceived loudness compared to monaural presentation.
  • Previous studies with earplugs showed minimal loudness changes, suggesting loudness constancy.
  • The role of ear canal occlusion versus earphone deactivation in binaural loudness perception requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate binaural loudness constancy by comparing meatal occlusion with earphone deactivation.
  • To measure the point of subjective loudness equality (PSLE) for monaural versus binaural stimuli.
  • To determine the influence of presentation method (loudspeaker vs. headphone) on loudness perception.

Main Methods:

  • Adaptive technique used to measure PSLE for speech and noise stimuli.
  • Stimuli presented via loudspeaker in a reverberant room or through compensated headphones.
  • Monaural presentation achieved via finger occlusion (loudspeaker) or headphone deactivation.

Main Results:

  • Near-perfect binaural loudness constancy observed with loudspeaker presentation.
  • A 3-6 dB summation effect found for both headphone conditions (dry and convolved).
  • Partial loudness constancy observed when simulating meatal occlusion with a finger.

Conclusions:

  • Loudspeaker presentation with simulated meatal occlusion yields near-perfect loudness constancy.
  • Headphone presentation results in a binaural summation effect, indicating less constancy.
  • Binaural loudness constancy may involve low-frequency residual stimulation and cognitive factors related to occlusion awareness.