[Audition and information theory: application to cochlear analysis]

Application of the general theory of information and of communication to auditory function enables the internal ear to be assimilated to a digital-analog converter capable of coding the continuous acoustic signal into discontinuous, impulsional type nervous signals. In this model, the ear selects spatio temporal samples of membranous acoustic forms, discrimination of intensity devolving upon the external ciliated system and that of the height upon the internal ciliated system. It allows simple correlation of apparently paradoxical psycho-acoustic phenomena with objective acoustic or histopathological data.