Sumner, CJ;
Wells, TT;
Bergevin, C;
Sollini, J;
Kreft, HA;
Palmer, AR;
Oxenham, AJ;
(2018)
Mammalian behavior and physiology converge to confirm sharper cochlear tuning in humans.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Status of America
, 115
(44)
pp. 11322-11326.
10.1073/pnas.1810766115.
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Abstract
Frequency analysis of sound by the cochlea is the most fundamental property of the auditory system. Despite its importance, the resolution of this frequency analysis in humans remains controversial. The controversy persists because the methods used to estimate tuning in humans are indirect and have not all been independently validated in other species. Some data suggest that human cochlear tuning is considerably sharper than that of laboratory animals, while others suggest little or no difference between species. We show here in a single species (ferret) that behavioral estimates of tuning bandwidths obtained using perceptual masking methods, and objective estimates obtained using otoacoustic emissions, both also employed in humans, agree closely with direct physiological measurements from single auditory-nerve fibers. Combined with human behavioral data, this outcome indicates that the frequency analysis performed by the human cochlea is of significantly higher resolution than found in common laboratory animals. This finding raises important questions about the evolutionary origins of human cochlear tuning, its role in the emergence of speech communication, and the mechanisms underlying our ability to separate and process natural sounds in complex acoustic environments.
Type: | Article |
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Title: | Mammalian behavior and physiology converge to confirm sharper cochlear tuning in humans |
Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
DOI: | 10.1073/pnas.1810766115 |
Publisher version: | http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1810766115 |
Language: | English |
Additional information: | Copyright © 2018 the Author(s). Published by PNAS. This open access article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND). |
Keywords: | cochlear tuning, frequency selectivity,auditory nerve, psychoacoustics, otoacoustic emissions |
UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > The Ear Institute |
URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10067257 |
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