PSYC 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Inner Ear, Basilar Membrane, Sine Wave

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 100
• Professor: Jordan Poppenk

Document Summary

Sound results from vibration. the vibrations causes air molecules to become. Place code (used for higher frequencies) allows the brain to know which pitch has been heard based on the location of the nerve fibres that are stimulated. Temporal code which allows the brain to know which pitch has been heard based on the firing rate of nerve fibres. (lower frequences) Volley principle: an auditory nerve as a whole produces volleys of impulses for sounds up to about 5,000 per second, even though no individual axon can fire that fast. Coded by the degree to which each auditory nerve fibre fires on every cycle of a stimulating waveform. Sine wave : a waveform with a single frequency: a smooth, regular oscillation between peaks and troughs (compressions and rarefactions). Sound bounces off the pinnae the pinnae look like funnels because they lead to the ear canal which allows the sound to vibrate the eardrum.