Perceiving Sound Sources

Abstract

To survive, animals must navigate, find food, avoid predators, and reproduce; and many species survive based on their ability to communicate. All of these crucial behaviors allow animals to function in a crowded world of obstacles, objects, and other animals. Many of these objects vibrate and produce sound, and sound may be used to determine the sources of the sound and to serve as a basis for communication. Sounds produced by different sources are combined in one sound field that must be parsed into information that allows for the determination of the individual sources. This process begins at the level of the auditory receptor organ, but is primarily accomplished by processing of the peripheral code in the brain. Given the variety of sources that produce sound, the complexity of the world in which these sources exist, and the lack of peripheral receptors to analyze sound sources per se, determining the sources of sound presents a significant challenge for the auditory system. At present, not a great deal is known about how the auditory system deals with this challenge. This book reviews several topics that are likely relevant to enhance an understanding of the auditory system’s ability to determine sound sources.