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Sound Intensity Level

Sound Intensity Level

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...

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.

Sound Intensity

Sound Intensity

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...

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...

Hair Cells

Hair Cells

Hair cells are the sensory receptors of the auditory system—they transduce mechanical sound waves into electrical energy that the nervous system can understand. Hair cells are located in the organ of Corti within the cochlea of the inner ear, between the basilar and tectorial membranes. The actual sensory receptors are called inner hair cells. The outer hair cells serve other functions, such as sound amplification in the cochlea, and are not discussed in detail here.

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.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 13, 2026

Systematic Hearing Performance Evaluation Process for Adolescents with Cochlear Implantation at Early Ages

Systematic Hearing Performance Evaluation Process for Adolescents with Cochlear Implantation at Early Ages

Published on: March 24, 2023

The Relationship Between Intensity Coding and Binaural Sensitivity in Adults With Cochlear Implants.

Ann E Todd¹, Matthew J Goupell, Ruth Y Litovsky

¹1Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA; and 2Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA.

Ear and Hearing

|October 28, 2016

Summary

Bilateral cochlear implant users

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Published on: January 9, 2019

Area of Science:

Auditory Neuroscience
Audiology
Cochlear Implant Technology

Background:

Bilateral cochlear implants (CIs) enable sensitivity to binaural information.
Significant variability exists in binaural sensitivity among CI users.
This variability may stem from peripheral auditory system characteristics.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the relationship between monaural hearing performance and binaural sensitivity in bilateral CI users.
To determine if monaural hearing characteristics explain variability in binaural processing.

Main Methods:

Binaural measures: dichotic signal detection, interaural time difference (ITD) discrimination.
Monaural measures: dynamic range, amplitude modulation (AM) detection, loudness growth.
Measurements were taken at multiple cochlear stimulation sites per participant.

Main Results:

Larger dynamic ranges correlated with greater binaural sensitivity.
Disparities in comfortable loudness levels between ears predicted poorer ITD discrimination.
Differences in dynamic ranges between ears predicted poorer diotic signal detection.
AM detection and loudness growth symmetry did not correlate with binaural measures.

Conclusions:

Variability in binaural hearing in bilateral CI users is partly explained by non-binaural factors.
Dynamic range and comfortable levels may reflect peripheral neural integrity and excitation patterns.
These peripheral factors can influence the central processing of binaural auditory information.