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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 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...

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...

Perception of Sound Waves

Perception of Sound Waves

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.
The pitch of a sound depends on the frequency and the pressure amplitude of the source. Two sounds of the same...

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 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.

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Assessment of Audio-Tactile Sensory Substitution Training in Participants with Profound Deafness Using the Event-Related Potential Technique

Assessment of Audio-Tactile Sensory Substitution Training in Participants with Profound Deafness Using the Event-Related Potential Technique

Published on: September 7, 2022

Transitional Probabilities Are Prioritized over Stimulus/Pattern Probabilities in Auditory Deviance Detection: Memory

Maria Mittag¹, Rika Takegata², István Winkler³

¹Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Cognitive Science, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland, and.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience

|September 16, 2016

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Auditory deviance detection relies on transitional probabilities, not overall sound pattern probabilities. This finding links basic auditory processing to predictive processing in higher cognitive functions.

Keywords:

auditory memory mismatch negativity predictive processing stimulus-specific adaptation transitional probability

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Published on: June 6, 2012

Area of Science:

Auditory Neuroscience
Cognitive Psychology
Perception

Background:

Predictive processing is a leading theory for human perception.
Auditory deviance detection, including mismatch negativity, is crucial for processing sound.
The role of different probability representations in auditory deviance detection remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether auditory deviance detection uses pattern probabilities or transitional probabilities.
To determine the basis of memory traces in cortical auditory deviance detection.
To link lower-level auditory processing with higher-level predictive functions.

Main Methods:

Presented healthy adults with standard and deviant tone triplets.
Manipulated deviant types to distinguish between pattern and transitional probability reliance.
Measured behavioral and cortical (mismatch negativity) deviance detection.

Main Results:

Both behavioral and cortical deviance detection relied on transitional probabilities.
Reversal deviants, which disrupt transitional probabilities, were hardest to detect.
This indicates the auditory system prioritizes sequential sound relationships.

Conclusions:

Auditory deviance detection is based on transitional probabilities, not overall pattern probabilities.
This supports the role of transitional probabilities in predictive processing.
Cortical deviance detection bridges lower-level auditory novelty detection and higher cognitive predictive functions.