Physiological acoustics

(acoustics) The study of the responses to acoustic stimuli that take place in the ear or in the associated central neural auditory pathways of humans and animals.

The study of specific responses that may occur in the ear or elsewhere along the central auditory pathways, following presentation of an appropriate stimulus at any level of the auditory system. Such responses may be recorded with the aid of various techniques which may be mechanical, electrical, optical, and so forth. The specific stimulus for the ear is acoustic energy. Experimentally, signals with well-defined parameters are used. The approach employed by physiological acoustics thus is purely analytical. This is in contrast to the holistic approach employed by psychoacoustics, which lends itself well to experiments on human subjects. Systematic physiological experiments can be performed only in animals, but differences between humans and other mammals are mainly in degree, not in principle. See also Hearing (human); Psychoacoustics.