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• Sound Waves


  Periodic variations in air pressure traveling from a source
• Medium of Sound


  Required to conduct sound through air and water
• Compression


  High-pressure areas in sound waves
• Refraction


  Low-pressure areas in sound waves
• Speed of Sound in Water

  Four times faster than in air
• Pure Tones


  Sound waves following a sine wave pattern
• Amplitude


  Difference between maximum and minimum sound pressures
• Loudness


  Perceptual experience of sound amplitude
• Decibel (db)


  Unit to measure sound amplitude
• Frequency of Sound


  Number of cycles in a sound per second
• Hertz (Hz)


  Unit to measure frequency, cycles per second
• Pitch


  Subjective experience of sound frequency
• Pinna


  Collects sound and funnels it into the auditory canal
• Tympanic Membrane


  Thin elastic sheet, also known as the eardrum
• Ossicles


  Small bones in the middle ear that amplify sound
• Cochlea


  Inner ear structure that transduces sound into neural signals
• Hair Cells


  Receive vibrations, convert them into neural signals
• Tectorial Membrane


  Shears across the Organ of Corti, affecting hair cell response
• Place Code Theory


  Different locations on the Basilar Membrane respond to different frequencies
• Temporal Code Theory


  Frequency representation based on sound frequencies matching firing rates of the auditory nerve
• Characteristic Frequency


  Frequency to which a location on the Basilar Membrane responds best
• Tonotopic Organization


  Similar frequencies are coded by neurons close to each other in the brain
• Conductive Hearing Loss


  Sound not properly reaching the cochlea
• Sensorineural Hearing Loss


  Damage to cochlea, auditory nerve, or primary auditory cortex