The auditory system provides our only long-range panoramic sensory system and facilitates vocal communication. Sounds in the environment are encoded by the cochlea according to their frequency content, and transmitted via the eighth cranial nerve to the central nervous system. Initial processing occurs in the cochlear nucleus before signals are relayed to the olivary complex and inferior colliculus. Within the medial and lateral superior olives, information from both ears is brought together enabling the extraction of the timing and intensity cues essential for computing the spatial location of a sound source. The inferior colliculus represents a near-obligatory synapse for ascending auditory information. Sounds are further processed in the medial geniculate nucleus of the thalamus before being relayed to auditory cortex. Auditory cortex performs a variety of functions that allow us to segregate a sound scene into its component sources, identify, and localize sound sources and process speech.
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