A Neural Mosaic of Tones

User rating: 4 / 5 after 4 vote(s)

The brain area which primates use to process sounds is separated into many individual fields like a mosaic. Max Planck researchers have used functional imaging (fMRI) to describe how the spectrum of frequencies is topographically distributed over man ...
The brain area which primates use to process sounds is separated into many individual fields like a mosaic. Max Planck researchers have used functional imaging (fMRI) to describe how the spectrum of frequencies is topographically distributed over many of these fields. Image: Gopinath S. / www.photoessays.net / Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics

The brain filters what we hear. It can do this in part because particular groups of neurons react to specific frequencies of sound. Neurobiologists from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen have now created a "frequency map" for numerous areas of the brain. They used magnetic resonance imaging to identify which neuronal fields are activated by single frequencies and by mixtures of frequencies.


Full story »
All News summaries from General Science news
All News summaries for June 22, 2006
Goto Archive PhysOrg Forum Goto Archive Video Goto Archive Editorials Goto Archive Free Magazines Goto Archive Newsletter

News Archive