Energy in Auditory Processing

Our senses are very unique. They come from the energies contained in the information about the world. An accessory structure modifies the energy and a receptor transduces the energy into a neural response. The sensory nerves transfer the coded activity to the central nervous system, while the thalamus processes and then relays the neural responses. Lastly, the cerebral cortex receives input and produces the sensation and perception from the brain.

Energy in the auditory system contains information about the world. This energy has a stimulus which comes from sound waves like ripples on a pond. The type of energy that this is, is mechanical energy. The vibrations cause changes in pressure of the medium and speed is able to change as the function of medium, while it can also stimulate mechanoreceptors on occasion. There are many different components of sound waves. The frequency is the number of cycles of sound waves completed per second. The wavelength is the distance between the same points on two successive waves. The amplitude is the height of the wave and the complexity is the interaction of many different waves. The phase is the part of the cycle that the wave is processing through in any given moment.

The accessory structures of the auditory system include the pinna, the outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear. All of these structures modify energy, and the outer, middle, and inner ears are able to act as a receptor site by transducing energy into a neural response. Transduction is the process of converting one form of energy into another. The pinna is the external fleshy covering on each side of one’s head and its purpose is to act as a funnel and provide minor amplification. From the outer ear, the external auditory ...

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...as the information ultimately reaches the primary auditory cortex in the temporal lobe. Within the primary auditory cortex each cell responds best to one tone and cells preferring a specific tone cluster together. The secondary auditory cortex surrounds the primary auditory cortex. Unlike the primary, within the secondary auditory cortex each cell responds to a complex combination of sounds. There are two main types of hearing loss, conduction hearing loss, or middle-ear deafness, and nerve loss, or inner-ear deafness. Some causes of conduction hearing loss include a punctured eardrum, earwax buildup, or Otosclerosis, abnormal bone growth in the middle ear. Some causes of nerve loss are Presbycusis, or age-related hearing loss, Meniere’s disease, fluid buildup in the inner ear, or noise-induced hearing loss, all of which often produce Tinnitus, ringing in the ears.