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Related Concept Videos

Auditory Perception01:17

Auditory Perception

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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...
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Sensory impulses related to touch, pressure, vibration, and proprioception from various body parts, such as the limbs, trunk, neck, and posterior head, travel to the cerebral cortex through the posterior column-medial lemniscus pathway. The pathway’s name derives from the two white-matter tracts that convey the impulses: the spinal cord's posterior column and the brainstem's medial lemniscus. First-order sensory neurons extend their axons into the spinal cord, forming the...
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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.
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The Cochlea01:13

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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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Hearing01:31

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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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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.
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Olivocochlear efferent effects on perception and behavior.

Amanda M Lauer1, Sergio Vicencio Jimenez2, Paul H Delano3

  • 1David M. Rubenstein Center for Hearing Research and Department of Otolaryngology-HNS, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 515 Traylor Building, 720 Rutland Ave, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States; Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, United States.

Hearing Research
|March 6, 2021
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

The auditory olivocochlear efferent system

Keywords:
Auditory efferentHearing in noiseOlivocochlearPsychoacousticsSelective attentionSpatial hearing

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Auditory Neuroscience
  • Sensory Systems

Background:

  • The function of the mammalian auditory olivocochlear efferent system is debated.
  • Its protective role against noise damage is known, but its primary evolutionary purpose is unclear.
  • Existing research presents conflicting results regarding its role in hearing, particularly in noisy environments.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the behavioral outcomes associated with olivocochlear system activation and dysfunction.
  • To synthesize findings on the system's role in hearing in noise and selective attention.
  • To explore proposed functions in age-related hearing loss, tinnitus, hyperacusis, and binaural hearing.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing behavioral studies in animal models and humans.
  • Analysis of research on olivocochlear efferent system activation and dysfunction.
  • Examination of studies investigating congenital olivocochlear dysfunction.

Main Results:

  • Conflicting evidence exists for the system's role in hearing in noise across species.
  • Animal models show a role in selective attention, but human studies are equivocal.
  • Auditory processing deficits in dysfunction models may stem from developmental issues, not direct efferent feedback.

Conclusions:

  • The precise behavioral role of the olivocochlear system remains controversial and requires further investigation.
  • Current research predominantly focuses on medial olivocochlear effects, neglecting lateral pathways and corticofugal influences.
  • Emerging tools offer potential to significantly advance understanding of this system's function in behavior.