New research on how we hear bass

[ehabheikal]

Scientists Just Found a Hidden Set of 'Modes' in The Human Ear

In an effort to better understand how the inner ear can hear the quietest of noises, researchers from Yale University stumbled across a potential new way the human body actively manages sound waves that may help us sift out extremely low frequencies.

www.sciencealert.com

 

[Muddywaters]

“Low frequency hearing is considered to be in the range of 20–1000 Hz.“

Interesting to me, (at least) researchers consider up to 1k low?

 

[diablo]

I found that article difficult to visualise. Searched for a different article and found this one easier to comprehend. -

Hear ye! Hear ye! Yale researchers uncover new complexities in human hearing

A new discovery by Yale physicists provides important insights into how faint sounds entering the human cochlea can be amplified enough for us to hear them.

news.yale.edu

 

[MatrixS2000]

“Low frequency hearing is considered to be in the range of 20–1000 Hz.“

Interesting to me, (at least) researchers consider up to 1k low?

I was surprised by the same. Interesting article though...

 

[Blumlein 88]

Interesting, but both links are lacking in any meaningful details.

 

[Keith_W]

Interesting, but both links are lacking in any meaningful details.

The second link includes a link to the relevant paper which you can read for free.

In short: the authors made a mathematical model of a cochlea and showed that various perturbations make the hair cells amplify certain frequencies.

Opinion no. 1: where is the experimental confirmation of the mathematical model? This is not evidence, this is speculation. There is nothing wrong with scientific speculation, but I need to see an in vivo MRI that shows that your model works before I accept the results. MRI's can have astounding resolution these days, enough to image a cochlea - but the major limitation is that MRI's are incredibly noisy. It may be impossible to study the effect of tones on the basilar membrane using medical imaging.

Opinion no. 2: A big raspberry to scientific journalists for breathlessly reporting the results without acknowledging the limitations of the study! I do not blame the researchers for this study (it is what it is), I blame the journalists for misrepresenting it. They DID NOT find a "hidden set of modes" in the ear. What they DID find was a mathematical model that PREDICTS a set of modes in the ear. FFS!