Articles tagged with Sound Perception
A study by University of Seville researchers uses acoustic simulation to analyze the variation of sound perception areas within the Mosque of Cordoba. The findings reveal differences in acoustics due to successive expansions, with notable degradation in areas furthest from the qibla wall.
Scientists found that the brain re-evaluates speech sound interpretations at the moment subsequent sounds are heard, using surrounding context to narrow possibilities. The brain makes commitments to its best guess after about half a second, demonstrating how context can alter perception even if disambiguating information arrives later.
Researchers used magnetoencephalography to show that brain's ability to group sounds into sequences disappears during slow wave sleep. However, elementary associations like stimulus-reflex response can be acquired during sleep, suggesting limitations in learning capabilities.
A new study by UCL researchers found that artificially lengthening the time it takes to hear an impact can make people update their perceived body height, leading them to feel taller. The findings could have implications for rehabilitation and treatment of conditions like Parkinson's Disease.
A new study by Jody E. Kreiman investigates how people perceive voice quality and defines a 'normal' voice. The results show that listeners are consistent in their judgments of abnormal voices but disagree on what constitutes a 'normal' voice, highlighting the complexity of voice perception.
Research suggests that imagining an object can produce the ventriloquist illusion and its aftereffect, changing future perception of sound. The brain integrates information from multiple senses to produce a coherent experience of the world, making it difficult to distinguish between real and imagined stimuli.
Researchers found that the brain's auditory cortex does not solely represent acoustic environments but also incorporates perception. Custom ear molds disrupted participants' elevation perception, revealing different responses to sounds between sessions, indicating a dynamic relationship between sensory encoding and perception.
A new noninvasive approach to treat tinnitus has shown promising results in a double-blind study, alleviating symptoms in 20% of participants. The therapy involves alternating audio and somatosensory stimulation, delivered through headphones and mild pulses on the neck or cheek.
Seniors need twice as long as young adults to realize they are falling, increasing their risk for serious injury. The study's findings will help shape wearable fall prevention technology and aid clinicians in identifying at-risk individuals.
A new study by McGill University researchers reveals that the brain's motor signals play a crucial role in distinguishing complex sounds. By anticipating the occurrence of next tone, the motor system sharpens auditory perception, even when participants remain still.
A study published in PLOS ONE found that budgerigars can perceive the difference between 'd' and 't' sounds without prior experience with human speech. The birds' perception of speech sounds depends on trading cues, such as voice onset time and formant frequencies.
A crowdsourcing effort helped researchers develop a mathematical model that can forecast the scent a molecule will evoke. The study used over 1 million data points from human volunteers to link perceptual information to chemical features, achieving a perfect score of 0.83 in smell prediction.
Researchers created an algorithm to understand how the brain combines auditory and visual speech cues, shedding light on the McGurk effect. The findings will help improve speech perception in patients with deficits and enhance hearing in devices.
A new study found that people unconsciously map sounds to shapes, influencing awareness before conscious recognition. The 'bouba-kiki' effect, observed across cultures and age groups, shows that soft-sounding words pair with round shapes and sharp-sounding words with angular shapes.
University of Utah researchers explore gender perception via speech, finding that adopting a clear speaking style can increase perceived femininity. However, the effect is small and variable, with male talkers showing larger changes in femininity ratings.
Alan R. Palmer has received the William and Christine Hartmann Prize in Auditory Neuroscience from the Acoustical Society of America, recognizing his work on understanding the mechanisms behind sound perception and brain activity.
Researchers are focusing on the key hormone 'aldosterone' and developing unique sounds to treat age-related hearing loss (ARHL). Studies will investigate its effects on mice and humans, with goals of slowing or preventing ARHL progression through hormonal intervention and brain training.
Researchers at the University of Rochester found that humans can detect and process sound delays as short as 40 milliseconds to fine-tune visual distance estimates. Participants consistently perceived shapes paired with delayed clicks as more distant, even when they were not, suggesting an unconscious link between sound delays and visu...
Researchers at UB investigated how humans and birds process overlapping sounds, discovering that timing and complexity play crucial roles in sound segregation. Their studies used both humans and budgerigars, showing similarities between species in processing auditory objects.
Echoes and fluctuations in volume are key cues for judging sound distance, a finding that opens up new possibilities for improving hearing aids and prostheses. Researchers used tiny microphones to record rabbit sounds and simulated modulated noise, measuring neural responses in the midbrain.
Research found that playing music by professionals enhances genes involved in dopamine neurotransmission, motor function, and biological pathways essential for neuronal function. This study provides insight into the molecular mechanisms of music performance and its effects on brain function and learning.
A new study by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution researchers has identified the acoustic range and minimum sound sensitivity of cuttlefish. The study found that cuttlefish hear in the same frequency range as fish and can react to sounds in a graded manner, using different behaviors to avoid predators.
The Seattle Singing Accuracy Protocol (SSAP) measures how well people handle the translation from listening to singing. The program assesses individual singers' ability to match specific tones and melodies, providing a tool for early music education programs and researchers studying musical ability.
A new technology aims to offer the ultimate listening experience by understanding how the brain perceives vertical sound. Researchers will develop software that converts 2D recordings into 3D using psycho-acoustic analysis and critical listening tests.
Researchers found that music can transform a person's psychological state and boost their sense of power. The study identified the key factor as high-bass levels, which may trigger a 'contagion hypothesis' where people mimic the feelings internally.
Researchers analyzed the genomes of 767 individuals for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) to identify genetic loci related to musical aptitude. The study found associations with genes involved in inner-ear development, auditory pathways, and emotional processing.
Researchers identified individuals with specific musical anhedonia, a condition where people can't experience pleasure from music. They found that these individuals show no autonomic responses to music but respond to monetary rewards, suggesting different ways to access the reward system.
Congenitally blind individuals can learn to recognize human body shapes through soundscapes, with an average of 70 hours of training required. The brain's visual cortex responds to sound patterns, allowing participants to detect posture and imitate movements.
Researchers at Saarland University have developed a novel therapeutic approach called optokinetic stimulation therapy (OKS) that has been shown to improve perception of sounds and images in stroke patients. After undergoing OKS therapy, patients were able to better perceive people, objects, and spatial orientation.
Researchers found that shoebox-shaped concert halls can enhance musical dynamics due to strong lateral reflections. This design could lead to better concert hall designs, improving the transmission of orchestra played dynamics.
Duke researchers found that neurons in the superior colliculus use two different strategies when responding to visual and auditory stimuli, contradicting previous theories. This discovery opens up a mystery regarding the underlying mechanism of how vision captures sound.
A study from Karolinska Institutet found that our imagination can affect how we experience the world, changing our actual perception. The research used illusions to test the impact of mental imagery on sensory perception.
A team of researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine has identified the underlying cause of noise-induced tinnitus, a chronic condition characterized by phantom sounds. They have also developed a drug that can prevent its development in animal models.
A person's style of speech, including the pronunciation of 's' sounds and vocal resonance, affects how listeners perceive their gender. According to CU-Boulder researcher Lal Zimman, a higher pitch can still be perceived as male if the speaker pronounces 's' sounds in a lower frequency.
A recent study published in the Journal of Neuroscience found that the brain's amygdala and auditory cortex interact when processing negative emotions triggered by unpleasant sounds. The study used fMRI to examine how brains responded to a range of sounds, from knife-on-bottle to soothing water flowing.
A study found sound levels around seriously ill patients in ICUs were significantly higher than WHO's recommended 30 dB. Patients experienced both positive and negative sounds, with uncontrollable alarms and treatments being most disturbing.
Researchers at MGH identified a brain area sensitive to sound distance, independent of loudness, using functional imaging. This discovery could help future studies of hearing disorders and sheds light on how the brain processes auditory signals.
A new UCLA psychology study finds that the senses of hearing and vision interact at a basic level before producing estimates, influencing the way we perceive the world. Even when sound is irrelevant to the task, it still affects our visual perception.
A new study shows that sound can affect visual perception at an unconscious level, enhancing performance on tasks involving moving objects. Participants performed better when sound moved in the same direction as the object's movement, even if it was irrelevant to the task.
A study of 74 musicians and 89 non-musicians found that being a musician can delay age-related decline in central auditory processing, allowing older musicians to understand speech in noisy environments as well as younger non-musicians. This advantage was particularly pronounced for older musicians.
Philip W. Robinson, a Rensselaer Ph.D. student, has been awarded a Fulbright grant to conduct research in architectural acoustics at Aalto University of Science and Technology in Helsinki, Finland. His research aims to understand how architectural enclosures transform sound to produce specific perceptual effects.
Researchers found that children with dyslexia struggle to perceive metrical structure in music, which is critical for phonology in language. Early musical games may provide benefits for learning to read and improve reading skills.
Vibrations in the inner ear persist even after a sound has stopped, potentially serving as a short-term memory of past stimuli. This phenomenon may help explain why some gaps between sounds are too brief to be perceived by the human ear.
A study by Dr. Olivier Collignon found that the brain's visual cortex can rewire itself to process sound information in people born blind. The research suggests that the brain's plasticity allows it to adapt and develop new functions even without visual experience.
Researchers found that listeners can effectively tune out sounds that don't conform to their brains' expectations, showcasing the efficient processing of predictable sounds. The study demonstrates how the mind quickly acquires and uses knowledge about the world's structure and redundancy to improve perception.
Researchers found that number-sound effects on price magnitude perceptions occur when consumers mentally rehearse sale prices, and can be influenced by phonemes in different languages. Additionally, participants perceived smaller discounts as larger when prices were marked down to specific numbers with distinct sounds.
Children with bilateral cochlear implants exhibit poor initial voice control but show significant improvement as they use their hearing aids for extended periods. Targeted speech therapies could help address these voice abnormalities.
Researchers found that consumers perceive unfamiliar products as expensive when surrounded by high-end options, while ignoring their own car expertise. Conversely, novice consumers believe cheap cars are more expensive when seen near affordable ones.
Scientists have discovered that Broca's region in the brain plays a crucial role in interpreting speech by constructing unique interpretations of spoken words. This mechanism allows humans to hear new sounds when conflicting verbal and visual signals are present.
Researchers have identified brain regions where speech sounds are perceived with abstract meaning, independent of sensory input. The study found two left-hemisphere speech-processing regions that code speech at an abstract level.
Researchers have identified a brain region, the left supramarginal gyrus, that selectively amplifies behaviorally significant speech sounds. This area is involved in categorical perception, which is crucial for recognizing distinct patterns in sensory input.
Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have identified a brain region, the planum temporale, as responsible for perceiving 'sound space', or the location of sounds. The study found that this region is activated when subjects are not concentrating on those sounds and can represent sound locations in a non-intentional manner.
Researchers found that vowel sounds associated with positive attributes make brand names more favorable among consumers. Front vowel sounds were preferred for fast or sharp objects, while back vowel sounds were preferred for large or dull objects.
Researchers discovered that cortical inhibitory cells suppress communication by receiving more stimulation from the thalamus and reacting strongly due to faster response time. This finding helps explain early stages of brain processing, memory, language, cognition, and sheds light on epilepsy causes.
Native languages influence how people group non-language sounds into rhythms, contradicting long-held beliefs. The study suggests exposure to certain patterns of speech can shape perceptions of musical rhythms.
In a breakthrough study, researchers found that nerve cells in the olfactory bulb detect individual chemical compounds in odors, rather than perceiving complex mixtures as single objects. The brain integrates these signals to form a recognizable scent, much like combining multiple melodies to hear a symphony.
Researchers have found TRPA1 to be present in stereocilia of hair cells, crucial for both sound detection and balance. This dual role suggests that TRPA1 may play a key role in pain sensation, particularly in response to noxious stimuli.
A new model of sound change shows that evolutionary principles can account for striking phonetic similarities across unrelated languages, as well as the rarity of certain sounds. Human perception and articulation make certain kinds of sound change more frequent than others, resulting in emergent properties of language.
Researchers identified a brain region that processes sound location and motion, with impaired function leading to 'cortical motion deafness'. The study provides evidence of an auditory motion module within the right posterior superior temporal gyrus.
Researchers used fMRI to compare representation of repetition rate across cortical and subcortical structures in human auditory pathway. Findings revealed distinct patterns of activity in response to trains with varying repetition rates, shedding new light on neural representations of sound perception.