PSYC 211 Chapter Notes - Chapter 7.3: Fundamental Frequency, Fourier Analysis, Basilar Membrane
3 Jun 2016
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Document Summary
In quiet environments, the young and healthy cochlea"s ability to detect sounds in the air is limited by the masking noise of blood rushing through the cranial blood vessels, rather than the sensitivity of the auditory system itself. The softest sounds that can be detected appear to move the hair cells between 1 and 100 picometers, and their maximum response occurs when the tips are moved about 100 nanometers. The axons of the cochlear nerve appear to inform the brain of the loudness of a stimulus by altering their rate of firing. Thus, axons involved in place coding, loudness is signaled by rate of firing. However, a higher rate of firing in rate coding axons signals increases in pitch. Most investigators believe that loudness in low frequency sounds is signaled by the number of axons arising from these neurons that are active at a given time.
