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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...

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...

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.

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...

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...

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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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 24, 2025

A Method to Study Adaptation to Left-Right Reversed Audition

A Method to Study Adaptation to Left-Right Reversed Audition

Published on: October 29, 2018

Visual cortex responds to sound onset and offset during passive listening.

David Brang¹, John Plass¹, Aleksandra Sherman²

¹Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Journal of Neurophysiology

|May 4, 2022

Summary

Sounds impact visual processing by modulating visual cortex activity at sound onset and offset, aiding timing and duration perception. However, complex auditory rate information does not influence visual activity during passive listening.

Keywords:

ECoG amplitude modulation audiovisual multisensory phase reset

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Auditory and Visual Processing
Human Electrophysiology

Background:

Auditory stimuli enhance visual target detection and localization.
Sound-induced phase resetting in visual cortex is a proposed mechanism.
The specific auditory information relayed to visual areas and its effect during passive listening remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how visual cortex responds to auditory onset, offset, and rhythmic entrainment during passive listening.
To determine if auditory information influences visual cortex activity without concurrent visual stimuli.
To explore potential direct pathways for auditory-visual interactions.

Main Methods:

Intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) was used in human participants during a passive listening task.
Visual cortex sensitivity to auditory onset, offset, and rhythmic entrainment was examined.
Amplitude-modulated sounds were presented to assess responses in visual areas.

Main Results:

Amplitude-modulated sounds evoked transient onset and offset responses in multiple visual cortex areas.
No evidence of rhythmic entrainment to sound modulation frequencies was found in visual cortex.
Auditory responses were most pronounced in low-level visual cortex, suggesting a direct pathway.

Conclusions:

Auditory onsets and offsets modulate visual cortex activity, potentially improving visual timing and duration processing.
Temporally fine-grained auditory dynamics, like rhythmic entrainment, do not appear to affect visual cortex during passive listening.
Findings suggest a direct, rapid interaction pathway between auditory and low-level visual cortex for processing environmental events.