PSYCH 1XX3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Olivary Body, Coevolution, Sound Intensity
Document Summary
The slight difference in time it takes for a sound to arrive in each ear can be measured in the sub-milliseconds. This may seem like a trivial difference, but it is dependent on the direction of the incoming sound. Specific neurons in the superior olivary complex respond to these slight differences in the timing of arrival of the action potentials from each ear in response to the same sound. For very close sounds, there is a detectable loss of intensity because the sound wave has to travel farther to reach one ear than the other. Since input from each ear travels to both sides of the brain, these differences in intensity can be directly compared to calculate the location of the sound. Some neurons in the superior olivary complex respond specifically to these intensity differences from each ear while others respond specifically to the interaural difference in arrival times for the sounds. Sounds in front / behind have little difference:
