Results from a research study published in Nature Communications show how the inner ear processes speech, something that has until now been unknown. The authors of the report include researchers from Linköping University.
Results from a research study published in Nature Communications show how the inner ear processes speech, something that has until now been unknown. The authors of the report include researchers from Linköping University.
A collaboration between researchers in Sweden, Denmark, the US, the UK and India has now revealed how the inner ear processes speech. The discovery is an important addition to our understanding of how the inner ear and our sense of hearing function. The results have been presented in an article published in the scientific journal Nature Communications.
“The sound of speech has two components in the inner ear. One component consists of high frequency variations in the sound. The other component, known as the ‘envelope’, describes the outermost shape of the sound of speech”, says Anders Fridberger, professor of neuroscience at Linköping University, and one of two principal authors of the article.
Coding of speech-like sound
The envelope, which varies relatively slowly, can be considered as the overall structure of the speech signal. Researchers have previously shown that the envelope is most important for understanding what someone is saying.
Read more at Linköping University
Image: Anders Fridberger, professor at Linköping University. (Credit: Thor Balkhed/Linköping University)
