Researchers from the University of Basel, in a study in Cell Reports, found out that with a background of white noise (which refer to sounds that mask other sounds), hearing pure sounds becomes more precise.
We know that hearing is important when it comes to human communication. However, despite this knowledge that we have, we still don’t know much about how we perceive and process acoustic signals which allows us to make sense of them. One thing is for sure, though: the more precisely we can recognize sound patterns, the better our hearing is. But in an environment with background noise, how does the brain manage to identify the relevant information from the less relevant?
Researchers led by Prof. Dr. Tania Rinaldi Barkat from the Department of Biomedicine at the University of Basel have investigated the neuronal foundation of sound perception and sound discrimination in a challenging sound environment. The focus was on research into the auditory cortex - the "auditory brain," that is, the area of the brain that processes acoustic stimuli. The resulting activity patterns stem from measurements in a mouse brain.
As is well known, the distinction between sounds becomes more difficult the closer they are in the frequency spectrum. Initially, the researchers assumed that additional noise could make such a hearing task even more difficult. However, the opposite was observed: The team was able to demonstrate that the brain's ability to distinguish subtle tone differences improved when white noise was added to the background. Compared to a quiet environment, the noise thus facilitated auditory perception.
More details about this over at EurekAlert.
(Image Credit: Pixabay)
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I thought this was shown decades ago. It is the reason that some people prefer tube amplifiers over digital ones.
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