We demonstrated that sounds emitted by the ear—called otoacoustic emissions (OAEs), specifically distortion-product OAEs—may provide a noninvasive window onto cochlear frequency tuning. OAEs are a byproduct of the amplification process mediated by outer hair cells and are often measured in clinical hearing screenings.
Hearing Involves Highly Distorted Processing of Sound by Sensory Hair Cells
Studying the distortions generated within the inner ear tells us how these signals may influence our perception of sound and also provides insight into the processes that are involved in basic sensory hair cell function.
Hearing Speech Requires Quiet – In More Ways Than One
Perceiving speech requires quieting certain types of brain cells, report a team of researchers from UConn Health and University of Rochester in the Journal of Neurophysiology. Their research reveals a previously unknown population of brain cells, and opens up a new way of understanding how the brain hears.
Sharp Attention Explains Why the Early Bird Gets the Worm
Auditory attention is the ability to focus on specific sounds. Attention capture is the involuntary response to sound targets in the environment. For humans, auditory attention can mean having a conversation in a noisy room, but still recognizing and responding (attention capture) to hearing a name being called from a distance.