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A mechanoelectrical mechanism for detection of sound envelopes in the hearing organ

Author

Listed:
  • Alfred L. Nuttall

    (Oregon Health & Science University)

  • Anthony J. Ricci

    (Stanford University School of Medicine
    Stanford University School of Medicine)

  • George Burwood

    (Oregon Health & Science University)

  • James M. Harte

    (Technical University of Denmark)

  • Stefan Stenfelt

    (Linköping University)

  • Per Cayé-Thomasen

    (Copenhagen University Hospital)

  • Tianying Ren

    (Oregon Health & Science University)

  • Sripriya Ramamoorthy

    (Indian Institute of Technology Bombay)

  • Yuan Zhang

    (Oregon Health & Science University)

  • Teresa Wilson

    (Oregon Health & Science University)

  • Thomas Lunner

    (Eriksholm Research Centre
    Linköping University)

  • Brian C. J. Moore

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Anders Fridberger

    (Oregon Health & Science University
    Linköping University)

Abstract

To understand speech, the slowly varying outline, or envelope, of the acoustic stimulus is used to distinguish words. A small amount of information about the envelope is sufficient for speech recognition, but the mechanism used by the auditory system to extract the envelope is not known. Several different theories have been proposed, including envelope detection by auditory nerve dendrites as well as various mechanisms involving the sensory hair cells. We used recordings from human and animal inner ears to show that the dominant mechanism for envelope detection is distortion introduced by mechanoelectrical transduction channels. This electrical distortion, which is not apparent in the sound-evoked vibrations of the basilar membrane, tracks the envelope, excites the auditory nerve, and transmits information about the shape of the envelope to the brain.

Suggested Citation

  • Alfred L. Nuttall & Anthony J. Ricci & George Burwood & James M. Harte & Stefan Stenfelt & Per Cayé-Thomasen & Tianying Ren & Sripriya Ramamoorthy & Yuan Zhang & Teresa Wilson & Thomas Lunner & Brian , 2018. "A mechanoelectrical mechanism for detection of sound envelopes in the hearing organ," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-018-06725-w
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-06725-w
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