Pitch Shift in Exsomatized Cochlea Observed by Laser Interferometry
Zhang-Cai Long1, Tao Shen1, Yan-Ping Zhang2, Lin Luo3**
1School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 2Affiliated Hospital, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 3Department of Chinese language and literature, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074
Abstract：Pitch is one of the most important auditory perception characteristics of sound; however, the mechanism underlying the pitch perception of sound is unclear. Although theoretical researches have suggested that perception of virtual pitch is connected with physics in cochlea of inner ear, there is no direct experimental observation of virtual pitch processing in the cochlea. By laser interferometry, we observe shift phenomena of virtual pitch in basilar membrane vibration of exsomatized cochlea, which is consistent with perceptual pitch shift observed in psychoacoustic experiments. This means that the complex mechanical vibration of basilar membrane in cochlea plays an important role in pitch information processing during hearing.
2019, Vol. 36 
