Auditory Processing: Central

The two main functions of hearing are localization and identification of sounds. Central auditory processing deals with the coding of sounds into neural representations in the central auditory pathways, but mostly at the level of the cerebral cortex. In other words, research on central auditory processing is interested in the perception, storage, and (re) cognition for purposes of behavior of different types of sounds, including communication sounds and music. How are the neural codes found and tested? Neural activity patterns in the brain in response to acoustic stimuli can be measured non-invasively (via blood flow and blood oxygenation changes) with functional imaging techniques in humans or, at much greater precision using microelectrodes, with electrophysiological techniques in animals. In addition, this entry addresses what auditory representations ...