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Related Concept Videos

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.

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: Oct 11, 2025

Functional Imaging of Auditory Cortex in Adult Cats using High-field fMRI

Functional Imaging of Auditory Cortex in Adult Cats using High-field fMRI

Published on: February 19, 2014

The Representation of Time Windows in Primate Auditory Cortex.

Pradeep Dheerendra^1,2, Simon Baumann^3,4, Olivier Joly¹

¹Biosciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, UK.

Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)

|December 7, 2021

Summary

Human and monkey brains process sound timing differently. Monkeys show less sensitivity to longer sound windows, possibly due to human specialization for speech processing.

Keywords:

functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)primates time-window processing

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Last Updated: Oct 11, 2025

Functional Imaging of Auditory Cortex in Adult Cats using High-field fMRI

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Published on: February 19, 2014

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Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations

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Published on: July 1, 2015

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Auditory Perception
Primate Cognition

Background:

The temporal processing of auditory information is crucial for understanding complex sounds, including vocalizations.
Similarities and differences in auditory processing between humans and nonhuman primates offer insights into the evolution of speech perception.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the neural basis of acoustic time window processing in rhesus macaques.
To compare auditory temporal processing in macaques with previously reported human brain responses.

Main Methods:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used in awake rhesus macaques.
Stimuli simulating vocalization spectrotemporal complexity were presented.
Brain activity patterns in response to varying time windows were analyzed and compared to human data.

Main Results:

Both humans and macaques showed a similar overall pattern of auditory processing, with shorter time windows processed in core auditory areas and longer windows in lateral belt and parabelt areas.
Macaques demonstrated lower sensitivity to longer acoustic time windows compared to humans.
Auditory brain regions in macaques exhibited distinct response patterns to different temporal scales.

Conclusions:

While basic auditory temporal processing mechanisms are conserved across primates, humans exhibit enhanced sensitivity to longer time windows.
This heightened sensitivity in humans may reflect neural specializations supporting complex vocalizations and speech perception.
Findings suggest evolutionary divergence in auditory processing related to communication complexity.