The ability to group stimuli into perceptual categories is essential for efficient interaction with the environment. Discrete dynamics that emerge in brain networks are believed to be the neuronal correlate of category formation. Observations of such dynamics have recently been made; however, it is still unresolved if they actually match perceptual categories. Using in vivo two-photon calcium i...

Gekkonoid lizards increase in body size throughout life, and the present study investigates whether changes in auditory function accompany these increases. Middle-ear structures in four groups of animals, adults and juveniles of two gekkonoid species (Eublepharis macularius and Oedura marmorata), were examined. Tympanic membrane velocity and phase were also measured in all four groups. An indic...

Sound-evoked compound action potential (CAP), which captures the synchronous activation of the auditory nerve fibers (ANFs), is commonly used to probe deafness in experimental and clinical settings. All ANFs are believed to contribute to CAP threshold and amplitude: low sound pressure levels activate the high-spontaneous rate (SR) fibers, and increasing levels gradually recruit medium- and then...

During visual category learning, full feedback (e.g., "Wrong, that was a category 4."), relative to minimal feedback (e.g., "Wrong."), enhances performance when the relevant dimensions are separable. This pattern is reversed with inseparable dimensions. Here, the interaction between trial-by-trial feedback and separability of dimensions in the auditory domain is examined. Participants were trai...

background: human beings use different approaches to learning. thus the aim of this study is to explore the mechanisms of learning through the hidden curriculum in the perspective of baccalaureate undergraduate nursing students. methods: this qualitative study, involving 24 baccalaureate undergraduate nursing students, was done by purposeful sampling strategies. the data were collected using se...

The human auditory cortex is the gateway to the most powerful and complex communication systems and yet relatively little is known about its functional organization as compared to the visual system. Several lines of evidence, predominantly from recent studies, indicate that sound recognition and sound localization are processed in two at least partially independent networks. Evidence from human...

Background: Chess is a game that involves many aspects of high level cognition such as memory, attention, focus and problem solving. Long term practice of chess can improve cognition performances and behavioral skills. Auditory memory, as a kind of memory, can be influenced by strengthening processes following long term chess playing like other behavioral skills because of common processing pat...

A critical barrier to future implementation of regenerative treatments for sensorineural hearing loss is the lack of diagnostic tools that can specify the target(s) within the cochlea and auditory nerve for delivery of therapeutic agents. This study used a gerbil model to test the idea of mapping auditory nerve firing density by tracking the amplitude of high-level compound action potentials (C...