SPH307: Auditory Physiology and Psychoacoustics
| Availability: | D1 |
| Credit Points: | 4 |
| Convenors: | Robert Mannell and Catherine McMahon |
Unit Description
This unit is a detailed examination of auditory anatomy and physiology and psychoacoustics. Whilst the unit focuses mainly on the human auditory system, there will also be some comparative studies of other vertebrate auditory systems. The structure of the outer, middle and inner ear, the auditory nerve, the auditory brainstem and the auditory cortex are examined, as are the mechanisms of hearing and the physiology of the auditory system.
Another major focus of this unit are the related topics of the psychoacoustics of hearing and the perception of speech, which will be examined both in lectures and in practicals.
Unit Web Site
Click here to go to the main SPH307 unit web site which is hosted on the Macquarie University Online Teaching Facility (WebCT).
Other Web Resources
Also on this site are some resources (currently under development) relating to the psychoacoustics and speech perception topics. Click on the following links to go to those resources:-
Outcome Statements
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
- Describe the structures of the outer and middle ears and the amplification provided by both components of the ear (i.e. the ear canal resonance and the middle ear impedance matching function).
- Describe the structure of the Organ of Corti, including: Reissner's membrane, reticular lamina, stria vascularis, tectorial membrane, basilar membrane, inner and outer hair cells, supporting cells, VIII nerve, spiral ganglion, osseous spiral lamina.
- Describe the traveling wave pattern of vibration on the basilar membrane. Know the physical properties of the cochlear partition that are responsible for the passive and active components of mechanical displacement.
- Describe the process of mechano-electrical transduction (i.e. how basilar membrane vibration leads to depolarisation of the hair cells and stimulation of auditory nerve fibers).
- Describe afferent and efferent innervation patterns within the cochlea.
- Describe the two frequency coding mechanisms used in the auditory nerve to transmit information from the ear to the brain: (a) place theory; and (b) volley theory.
- Describe how intensity of sound is encoded.
- Discuss the theory of how otoacoustic emissions are generated why this finding was important in our understanding of the OHC active process.
- Know the different evoked potentials which are measured using round-window electrocochleography (ECoG) and from which cellular structures they arise. Describe how these potentials can be used to diagnose the site-of-lesion for a cochlear disruption.
- Describe the cellular mechanisms underlying sound localisation.
- Describe the structure and function of the auditory cortex and related cortical areas.
- Relate the functioning of the central auditory system to the theoretical themes of feature detection, hierarchical processing, functional localisation and attention.
- Understand and describe current theories of hearing.
- Describe how the auditory system processes non-speech sounds.
- Understand and be able to describe tests of frequency discrimination and frequency selectivity.
- Understand and be able to describe tests of auditory temporal acuity (gap detection).
- Describe how the auditory system processes speech sounds.
- Understand some of the issues that have shaped the study of speech perception.
- Understand the principles behind speech intelligibility and tests of speech intelligibility.
Navigating These Pages
To return to the main Linguistics Department web site click on "LINGUISTICS HOME" in the menu bar just above each page's main content. The "RESOURCE INDEX" link takes you to a page that provides links to a large number of on-line materials relating to Phonetics and Phonology and Speech Science (and to a much lesser extent, some aspects of hearing). The "HELP PAGES" link takes you to help pages that tell you how to install appropriate phonetic fonts (if required), installing a browser that properly supports phonetic fonts, as well as software for playing sound and video files.