Physics, ecological acoustics and the auditory system

Josh H McDermott; Vinayak Agarwal; James Traer

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2024.05.056

Physics, ecological acoustics and the auditory system

Curr Biol. 2024 Oct 21;34(20):R1006-R1013. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.05.056.

Authors

Josh H McDermott¹, Vinayak Agarwal², James Traer³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and Center for Brains, Minds and Machines, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Program in Speech and Hearing Biosciences and Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and Center for Brains, Minds and Machines, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
³ Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Iowa Neuroscience Institute, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.

PMID: 39437718
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.05.056

Abstract

Sound occurs when vibrations travel through a medium. These vibrations, their propagation, and their interaction with the environment are dictated by laws of physics, and indirectly reflect underlying physical properties of things in the world. The sense of audition exists to measure sound and infer its causes in the world, so as to help organisms interact with the world around them. Audition is thus indirectly but intimately shaped by the physics of sound.

MeSH terms

Acoustics*
Animals
Auditory Perception / physiology
Hearing* / physiology
Humans
Physics
Sound*
Vibration