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PSY3301 > Auditory System > Flashcards

Auditory System Flashcards

1
Q

What are sound waves in simple terms?

A

Air molecules that undergo displacement and compression by changing pressure

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2
Q

What are three physical attributes of sound waves?

A

Frequency, amplitude and complexity

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3
Q

What is frequency and pitch perception?

A

The rate at which sound waves vibrate, measured as cycles per second or hertz.

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4
Q

What is amplitude and perception of loudness (how is it measured)?

A

Intensity of sound measured in decibles (dB).

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5
Q

What is complexity and timbre (perception of sound quality) and their relation to each other?

A

A sound’s complexity is a mixture of frequencies. Complexity determines timbre.

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6
Q

What is this sound wave?

A

Low frequency (low-pitch)

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7
Q

What is this sound wave?

A

High frequency (high-pitch)

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8
Q

What is this sound wave?

A

High amplitude (loud sound)

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9
Q

What is this sound wave?

A

Low amplitude (soft sound)

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10
Q

What is this sound wave?

A

Simple (pure tone)

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11
Q

What is this sound wave?

A

Complex (mix of frequencies)

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12
Q

How are differences in frequency heard?

A

Differences in pitch (think piano)

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13
Q

What is the lowest frequency a healthy adult human can hear?

A

20Hz

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14
Q

What is the highest frequency a healthy adult human can hear?

A

20000Hz

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15
Q

What is true about animals and their communication in relation to frequency?

A

Many animals communicate with sound, with species-specific sounds that their auditory systems have evolved to hear.

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16
Q

True or false: Very low frequencies tend to travel well in water.

A

True

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17
Q

True or false: High frequency sounds can act like sonar.

A

True

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18
Q

What is the term for the intensity of a sound, measured in dB?

A

Amplitude.

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19
Q

What sound wave corresponds with our perception of loudness?

A

Amplitude

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20
Q

If you hit a tuning fork lightly, it resonates at a certain frequency (tone). If you hit the same fork harder, it produces the same tone, but you transfer more energy into the vibrations. This is an example of what?

A

Amplitude

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21
Q

What is the amplitude of typical speech sounds?

A

40dB

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22
Q

What is true about sound perception of frequency and amplitude together?

A

You can perceive more than one sound at a time because each sound wave’s frequency stimulates different neurons in our auditory system.

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23
Q

Give an example of low frequency, low amplitude.

A

Low pitch and soft volume (faucet dripping)

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24
Q

Give an example of low frequency, high amplitude.

A

Low pitch and loud volume (lawnmower)

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25
Q

Give an example of high frequency, low amplitude.

A

High pitch and soft volume (bird whistle)

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26
Q

Give an example of high frequency, high amplitude.

A

High pitch and high volume (fire alarm)

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27
Q

What are pure tones?

A

Sounds with a single frequency

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28
Q

What are complex tones?

A

Sounds with a mixture of frequencies and amplitudes combined and overlayed

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29
Q

How do sound waves allow humans to distinguish between voices?

A

Different timbre, or “uniqueness”

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30
Q

Where are auditory stimuli routed in the brain?

A

Routed through the brainstem (various structures) then on to the auditory cortex (A1)

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31
Q

What is the auditory system designed to do?

A

Decode frequency, amplitude, and complexity to analyze sounds for meaning and location

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32
Q

What is true about the evolution of sound-processing capabilities in humans over time?

A

Associated with the expansion of the temporal lobes.

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33
Q

What are 3 main regions of the human ear?

A

Outer ear, middle ear, inner ear.

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34
Q

What is the main purpose of the outer ear?

A

Processing sound waves

35
Q

What are the 3 main structures of the outer ear?

A

Pinna, external ear canal, eardrum

36
Q

What is the Pinna and its function in hearing?

A

A funnel-like external structure that catches sound waves in the surrounding environment and deflects them into the ear canal

37
Q

What is the external ear canal and its function in hearing?

A

Responsible for narrowing and amplifying sound waves, and directing them to the tympanic membrane (eardrum)

38
Q

What is the tympanic membrane?

A

The eardrum

39
Q

What is the eardrum and its role in hearing?

A

Structure that vibrates in response to sound waves.

40
Q

What is found to the inner side of the eardrum?

A

The middle ear

41
Q

What is the middle ear?

A

An air filled chamber that contains ossicles

42
Q

What are ossicles?

A

The three smallest bones in our bodies that attach the eardrum to the oval window.

43
Q

What are the 3 ossicles?

A

Hammer, Anvil, Stirrup (also referred to as Malleus, Incus, Stapes)

44
Q

What is the oval window?

A

An opening in the casing of the cochlea

45
Q

How does the inner ear process sound waves after vibrating the eardrum?

A

When sound waves vibrate the eardrum, the vibrations are transmitted to the ossicles who then amplify them and convey them through the oval window to the cochlea.

46
Q

What is the cochlea?

A

Coiled structure in the inner ear; filled with cochlear fluid and auditory receptor cells

47
Q

What is the organ of Corti?

A

Auditory cells & the cells that support the auditory receptor cells

48
Q

What are the 3 composing elements of the organ of Corti?

A

Basilar membrane, Outer and inner hair cells, Tectorial membrane

49
Q

What is the basilar membrane?

A

Receptor surface in the cochlea; converts sound waves to neural activity

50
Q

What are the outer and inner ear hair cells?

A

Sensory neurons in the cochlea that are tipped by cilia. They are embedded in the basilar and tectorial membranes

51
Q

What is the Tectorial membrane?

A

Membrane overlying hair cells

52
Q

How does the inner ear process sound waves after passing through the cochlear fluid?

A

The waves travelling through the fluid bend the basilar and tectorial membranes which stimulates the cilia at the tips of the hair cells.

53
Q

What does this image show?

A

A cross-section of the cochlea and the organ of Corti

54
Q

How does the ear work to convert sound saves into neural impulses?

A

Frequencies cause all parts of the basilar membrane to bend

55
Q

What did Helmholtz suggest about sound waves and the basilar membrane?

A

Sound waves of different frequencies cause different parts of the basilar membrane to bend

56
Q

How was Helmholtz wrong about the way the basilar membrane bends?

A

All frequencies cause all parts of the basilar membrane to bend

57
Q

What did Békésy suggest about the responsiveness of the basilar membrane to frequencies of sound?

A

High frequencies = maximum displacement at the base.
Low frequencies= maximum displacement at the apex.

58
Q

What is the maximal Hz sensitivity of the base of the basilar membrane?

A

20000 Hz

59
Q

What is the maximal Hz sensitivity of the apex of the basilar membrane?

A

100 Hz

60
Q

How does the basilar membrane vary in thickness along its length?

A

Narrow and thick at its base
Wide and thin at its apex

61
Q

How do differences in thickness of the basilar membrane help code sound?

A

Differences in dimension help code for very small differences in frequency.

62
Q

What is the pathway to the auditory cortex?

A

Cochlear nucleus –> olivary complex –> trapezoid body –> inferior colliculus –> medial geniculate nucleus –> auditory cortex

63
Q

What are the two pathways of auditory stimuli?

A

Ventral and dorsal

Ventral pathway projects to the primary auditory cortex (A1)
Dorsal region projects to the auditory regions adjacent to A1.

64
Q

What is the role of the the ventral auditory pathway?

A

“What” pathway –> where is that noise coming from

65
Q

Where is the primary auditory cortex (A1)?

A

The primary auditory cortex, A1, lies within Heschl’s gyrus, surrounded by secondary cortical areas, A2.

66
Q

What is the role of Wernicke’s area?

A

Speech comprehension and analysis –> left hemisphere dominance

67
Q

What is the role of Heschl’s gyrus?

A

Analyzing music

68
Q

What is the role of the insular lobe?

A

Related to language, taste perception and social cognition.

69
Q

What is Tonotopic representation?

A

Structural organization for processing sound waves from lower (apex) to higher (base) frequencies –> reproduced in the cochlear nucleus and is maintained throughout the auditory pathways and into A1.

70
Q

How do cochlear implants work?

A

Implanted surgically in the inner ear to convert sound waves to neural activity –> redirects sound to proper place on the basilar membrane ** only works to replace structures BEFORE the basilar membrane

71
Q

What are the two mechanisms for locating sound?

A

Interaural time difference (ITD) and Interaural intensity diffrerence (IID)

72
Q

Explain how Interaural time differences are processed

A

Neurons compute differences in arrival time in each ear, carried out in the olivary complex

73
Q

Explain how Interaural intensity differences are processed

A

Neurons in the brainstem compute the difference in a sound wave’s relative loudness on the left and right side –> detected by lateral part of olivary complex and trapezoid body

74
Q

How do owls detect sound from location?

A

ITD

75
Q

True or false: Language functions are partly localized

A

True

76
Q

What is the anterior speech area in the frontal lobe that functions with the motor cortex to produce the movements needed for speaking?

A

Broca’s area

77
Q

What is the posterior speech area at the rear of the temporal lobe that regulates language comprehension?

A

Wernicke’s area

78
Q

90-95% of aphasia cases are the result of damage to which cerebral hemisphere?

A

Left cerebral hemisphere

79
Q

What is aphasia?

A

Disturbed language processing caused by brain dysfunction

80
Q

What is nonfluent aphasia (Broca’s aphasia, expressive aphasia)?

A

A person continues to comprehend speech but has to labor to produce it – short, hesitant phrases with errors and omission of function words

81
Q

What is fluent aphasia (Wernicke’s aphasia, receptive aphasia)?

A

Impairments in language reception– severe disturbance in comprehension… Word production is intact.

82
Q

What causes fluent aphasia?

A

Damage to the posterior temporal/parietal regions

83
Q

What is the arcuate fasciculus?

A

Area of connection between Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas/.

84
Q

Where is music processing?

A

Right hemisphere with some left hemisphere influence (music production).

PSY3301 (6 decks)

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