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Hearing becomes gradually less sensitive as frequency decreases, so for humans to perceive infrasound, the sound pressure must be sufficiently high. Although the ear is the primary organ for sensing low sound, at higher intensities it is possible to feel infrasound vibrations in various parts of the body.
Infrasound is sound at frequencies lower than the low frequency end of human hearing threshold at 20 Hz. It is known, however, that humans can perceive sounds below this frequency at very high pressure levels. [1]
Although pitch retrieval mechanisms in the auditory system are still a matter of debate, [76] [115] TFS n information may be used to retrieve the pitch of low-frequency pure tones [75] and estimate the individual frequencies of the low-numbered (ca. 1st-8th) harmonics of a complex sound, [116] frequencies from which the fundamental frequency of ...
The ear's shape also allows the sound to be heard more accurately. Many breeds often have upright and curved ears, which direct and amplify sounds. As dogs hear higher frequency sounds than humans, they have a different acoustic perception of the world. [24] Sounds that seem loud to humans often emit high-frequency tones that can scare away dogs.
It is approximately the quietest sound a young human with undamaged hearing can detect at 1 kHz. [4] The threshold of hearing is frequency-dependent and it has been shown that the ear's sensitivity is best at frequencies between 2 kHz and 5 kHz, [5] where the threshold reaches as low as −9 dB SPL. [6] [7] [8]
Note peak sensitivity around 2–4 kHz, in the middle of the voice frequency band. The human ear can nominally hear sounds in the range 20 to 20 000 Hz . The upper limit tends to decrease with age; most adults are unable to hear above 16 000 Hz .
This pressure wave travels along the BM of the cochlea until it reaches an area that corresponds to its maximum vibration frequency; this is then coded as pitch. [13] High frequency sounds stimulate neurons at the base of the structure and lower frequency sounds stimulate neurons at the apex. [13] This represents cochlear tonotopic organization.
When sensorineural hearing loss (damage to the cochlea or in the brain) is present, the perception of loudness is altered. Sounds at low levels (often perceived by those without hearing loss as relatively quiet) are no longer audible to the hearing impaired, but sounds at high levels often are perceived as having the same loudness as they would for an unimpaired listener.