Auditory Cortex News and Research

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The auditory cortex is the region of the brain that is responsible for processing of auditory (sound) information. The primary auditory cortex is located in the temporal lobe. There are additional areas of the human cerebral cortex that are involved in processing sound, in the frontal and parietal lobes.

Salk professor awarded $950,000 NSF grant to explore how the brain processes complex sounds

Salk Associate Professor Tatyana Sharpee has been awarded a grant of approximately $950,000 over 4 years by the National Science Foundation to study how the brain processes complex sounds. This grant is part of a multi-national project together with groups in France and Israel.

7 Sep 2017

New study pinpoints origin of abnormalities in autism spectrum disorder

The origins of autism remain mysterious. What areas of the brain are involved, and when do the first signs appear? New findings published in Biological Psychiatry brings us closer to understanding the pathology of autism, and the point at which it begins to take shape in the human brain.

29 Aug 2017

Breakthrough research brings cognitive hearing aids a step closer to reality

People who are hearing impaired have a difficult time following a conversation in a multi-speaker environment such as a noisy restaurant or a party. While current hearing aids can suppress background noise, they cannot help a user listen to a single conversation among many without knowing which speaker the user is attending to.

4 Aug 2017

Researchers identify striking contrasts in how groups of neurons function during decision making

By training mice to perform a sound identification task in a virtual reality maze, researchers at Harvard Medical School and the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) have identified striking contrasts in how groups of neurons in different cortex regions of the brain function during decision making.

19 Jul 2017

Language development may start in utero, study suggests

A month before they are born, fetuses carried by American mothers-to-be can distinguish between someone speaking to them in English and Japanese.

18 Jul 2017

Scientists identify network of neurons that plays key role in learning vocalizations

Researchers have identified a network of neurons that plays a vital role in learning vocalizations by aiding communication between motor and auditory regions of the brain.

28 Jun 2017

Traditional hearing tests fail to diagnose patients with common inner ear damage

Traditional clinical hearing tests often fail to diagnose patients with a common form of inner ear damage that might otherwise be detected by more challenging behavioral tests, according to the findings of a University at Buffalo-led study published in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience.

20 Apr 2017

Changes in the brain regions that process speech may be potential predictor of early dementia

Early dementia is typically associated with memory and thinking problems; but older adults should also be vigilant about hearing and communication problems, suggest recent findings in a joint Baycrest-University of Memphis study.

15 Mar 2017

Sighted people can be trained to use echolocation to estimate sizes of enclosed spaces

Humans can be trained to use echolocation to estimate the sizes of enclosed spaces. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich researchers now show that the learning process involves close coordination between sensory and motor cortex.

28 Jan 2017

Researchers provide new insight into the brain mechanisms underlying dyslexia

Researchers have provided new insight into the brain mechanisms underlying a condition that causes reading and writing difficulties.

24 Jan 2017

Researchers show how adult learning is impaired in females using mouse models of Rett syndrome

Neurodevelopmental disorders like autism very likely have their origin at the dawn of life, with the emergence of inappropriate connectivity between nerve cells in the brain.

19 Jan 2017

Neuroscientists uncover how the brain retunes to pull meaning out of noisy environment

When you're suddenly able to understand someone despite their thick accent, or finally make out the lyrics of a song, your brain appears to be re-tuning to recognize speech that was previously incomprehensible.

20 Dec 2016

Scientists identify microrna that provides clues for quieting auditory hallucinations of schizophrenia

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have identified a small RNA (microRNA) that may be essential to restoring normal function in a brain circuit associated with the "voices" and other hallucinations of schizophrenia.

30 Nov 2016

Research provides deeper understanding of what happens in the brain when occupied by visual task

When we are busy with something that requires the use of sight, the brain reduces hearing to make it easy for us.

7 Sep 2016

Scientists explore why some kids respond better to cochlear implants than others

Four-year-old William Wootton was born profoundly deaf, but thanks to cochlear implants fitted when he was about 18 months old, the Granite Bay preschooler plays with a keyboard synthesizer and reacts to the sounds of airplanes and trains, while still learning American Sign Language.

1 Jul 2016

Music instruction improves cognitive, socio-emotional development in young children

Music instruction appears to accelerate brain development in young children, particularly in the areas of the brain that are responsible for processing sound, language development, speech perception and reading skills, according to initial results of a five-year study by USC neuroscientists.

16 Jun 2016

Scientists detect FFR signals from previously unknown part of the brain

Scientists at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital at McGill University have made an important discovery about the human auditory system and how to study it, findings that could lead to better testing and diagnosis of hearing-related disorders.

7 Apr 2016

Marmosets appear to use auditory cues similar to humans to process pitch

The specialized human ability to perceive the sound quality known as 'pitch' can no longer be listed as unique to humans. Researchers at Johns Hopkins report new behavioral evidence that marmosets, ancient monkeys, appear to use auditory cues similar to humans to distinguish between low and high notes.

29 Dec 2015

Study: Brains of compulsive video game players wired differently

Brain scans from nearly 200 adolescent boys provide evidence that the brains of compulsive video game players are wired differently. Chronic video game play is associated with hyperconnectivity between several pairs of brain networks.

22 Dec 2015

Researchers find how different neurons work together to reduce responses to frequent sounds

Being able to understand speech is essential to our evolution as humans. Hearing lets us perceive the same word even when spoken at different speeds or pitches, and also gives us extra sensitivity to unexpected sounds. Now, new studies from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania clarify how these two crucial features of audition are managed by the brain.

12 Oct 2015