Auditory perception

Eva Rudolf-Müller is a freelance writer in the medical team. She studied human medicine and newspaper sciences and has repeatedly worked in both areas - as a doctor in the clinic, as a reviewer, and as a medical journalist for various specialist journals. She is currently working in online journalism, where a wide range of medicine is offered to everyone.

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The sensory perception of sound (hearing) is called auditory perception (acoustic perception). It takes place via sensory cells that are stimulated by vibrations (sound waves) from the environment. Hearing or the sense of hearing is of central importance for people and communication. Read everything you need to know about auditory perception here!

What is auditory perception?

The term auditory perception describes the perception of sound - that is, of tones, sounds and noises. The sound is conveyed in the form of vibrations through the surrounding media (air or water), but also through vibrations of the subsurface. The hearing is able to perceive up to 20 signals per second as individual tones. With a larger number, the tones blur into one another and are then heard as a single tone and with the lowest frequency that occurs in it.

How does auditory perception work?

Sound is initially picked up via the outer ear. The sound is picked up by the auricle, conducted into the external auditory canal and then set the eardrum vibrating. Thanks to the handle of the first auditory ossicle, the hammer, which is fixed to the eardrum, the vibrations are transmitted over the entire ossicular chain (hammer, anvil, stirrup) in the middle ear to the oval window at the transition to the fluid-filled inner ear. The sound waves are passed on in the liquid as traveling waves, which are registered by the hairs of the sensory cells and converted into nerve impulses. These electrical impulses are passed on to the brain via the auditory nerve.

Auditory perception in the brain

The central nervous part of the auditory system is the center of acoustic perception. The auditory pathway runs through ascending and descending nerve tracts and interconnected core areas ("auditory nuclei"). Speech perception takes place via an evaluation of the information arriving via the auditory nerve in the hearing centers of the brain - the actual auditory perception.

In order to recognize and differentiate spoken language and certain noises, certain sound characteristics must be recognized in the auditory pathway with the ascending nerve pathways: the beginning and end of a sound stimulus, changes in frequency and much more.

Without hearing, no language can be learned independently, communication is then more difficult. Therefore, suitable therapy must be initiated at an early stage in children with impaired auditory perception.

Problems with auditory perception

An auditory processing and perception disorder (auditory or acoustic agnosia or mental deafness) occurs when the hearing organ in the ear functions normally, but central hearing and listening comprehension are disturbed. Affected people lack the ability to distinguish sounds, recognize and understand acoustic signals. The localization of sound sources is also disturbed. People with auditory perception disorder have difficulty learning language properly.

In the case of hearing loss and deafness, auditory perception is also impaired.

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