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auditory system

Auditory Neuroscience Featured Neuroscience

·January 30, 2025·4 min read

How the Brain Adapts to New Sensory Contexts

New research reveals how the brain rapidly adapts to sensory changes using a feedback loop between the olfactory cortex and the olfactory bulb. Scientists trained mice to associate rewards with specific sounds and smells, then switched the rules to test their adaptability.

Auditory Neuroscience Featured Neuroscience

·December 18, 2024·3 min read

Soundless Minds: When the Mind Hears No Inner Voice

Some people experience anauralia, a silent mind incapable of imagining sounds like voices or music. Scientists and creatives will explore this phenomenon at the "Mind’s Ear and Inner Voice" conference in April, hosted in Auckland.

Auditory Neuroscience Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·September 13, 2023·7 min read

New Auditory Pathway Map Offers Hope for Profound Hearing Loss

Researchers have pioneered a non-invasive technique to map the human auditory pathway, crucial for determining the optimal surgical treatment for profound hearing loss. The method is designed to aid early interventions, ensuring the auditory-language network develops properly, enhancing long-term outcomes.

This shows an older man with a hearing aid

Auditory Neuroscience Featured Neuroscience

·December 24, 2022·5 min read

When Elders Can’t Hear Words at a Noisy Holiday Gathering, Too Many Brain Cells May Be Firing at Once

Older mice were less capable than younger mice at "turning off" certain actively firing neurons when exposed to ambient noise. The result causes a fuzzy soundscape that makes it difficult for the brain to focus on one type of sound and filter out other surrounding sounds.

Auditory Neuroscience Featured Neuroscience

·October 12, 2022·4 min read

Scientists Discover Mechanism of Hearing

For the first time, researchers have captured in near-atomic detail the structure of a key part of the inner ear responsible for hearing. The results could pave the way for developing new treatments for those with hearing impairments.

This shows the outline of a head and a question mark

Auditory Neuroscience Featured Neuroscience

·October 11, 2022·5 min read

Why Are Sounds Not Perceived Under Anesthesia?

Under anesthesia, neuron assemblies that respond to sound become indistinguishable from spontaneously active neurons. Findings suggest the state of unconsciousness produced by anesthesia forces the cerebral cortex to mask sensory input with spontaneous neural activity.

This illustration shows a person talking and a large ear

Auditory Neuroscience Featured Neuroscience

·September 24, 2022·4 min read

New Research Throws Doubt on Old Ideas of How Hearing Works

A new study casts old theories about hearing into doubt. Researchers found many cells in the inner ear react simultaneously to low-frequency sounds. This makes it easier for us to hear low-frequency sounds as the brain is able to receive input from many sensory cells at the same time.

This shows two people with loud speakers as head

Auditory Neuroscience Electrophysiology Featured Neuroscience

·July 22, 2022·3 min read

A New Mechanism Responsible for Controlling Auditory Sensitivity

Researchers identified a new mechanism by which auditory sensitivity is regulated. The mechanism can temporarily reduce sensitivity in the auditory system to protect itself from loud sounds that can cause hearing damage.

Auditory Neuroscience Featured Neuroscience

·May 26, 2022·8 min read

Early Sound Exposure in the Womb Shapes the Auditory System

Muffled sounds experienced in the womb prime the brain’s ability to interpret some sounds and may be key for auditory development.

Auditory Neuroscience Featured Neuroscience

·July 3, 2021·5 min read

Study Pinpoints Role of Dopamine in Songbird’s Brain Plasticity

Dopamine drives neuroplasticity in the auditory pallium region of the zebra finch brain, researchers report.

Auditory Neuroscience Featured Neuroscience

·June 21, 2021·2 min read

Listening to Mix of Sounds and Silence Preserves Temporal Sound Processing in Mice

Temporal sound processing can be maintained in mouse models of congenital hearing loss with exposure to broadband sounds embedded with pauses, a new study reports.