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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.

Outcome Statements

At the end of this unit you should be able to:

1. 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).
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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).
5. Describe afferent and efferent innervation patterns within the cochlea.
6. 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.
7. Describe how intensity of sound is encoded.
8. Discuss the theory of how otoacoustic emissions are generated why this finding was important in our understanding of the OHC active process.
9. 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.
10. Describe the cellular mechanisms underlying sound localisation.
11. Describe the structure and function of the auditory cortex and related cortical areas
12. Be able to relate the functioning of the central auditory system to the theoretical themes of feature detection, hierarchical processing, functional localisation and attention.
13. Understand some of the issues that have shaped the study of speech perception
14. Understand the principles behind speech intelligibility and tests of speech intelligibility
15. Describe how the auditory system processes speech and non-speech sounds
16. Understand and be able to describe tests of frequency discrimination and selectivity and of auditory temporal acuity

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