Auditory System: Recapitulation:
Sound: Physics, Perception
Characterizing: Frequency (pitch), Loudness
Timing (sound source location; discriminating complex sounds)
Weber-Fechner law: perceptions are logarithmic; just noticeable
differences are proportional to the value (of loudness or pitch)
Pathway: cochlea – brainstem – cortex
Ear: finely engineered to pick up sound
Parallel processing of pitch, loudness, timing, (complex sounds)
Higher along pathway -> more complex processing.
“Physiology explains perception”: receptive fields, tuning curves,
place coding for pitch, loudness, sound source location. Similar to
sensory systems of vision, touch
fMRI of language processing
Plasticity (sensory experience or external manipulation).