Tonotopy (from Greek tono- and topos = place: the place of tones) is the spatial arrangement of where sound is perceived, transmitted, or received. It refers to the fact that tones close to each other in terms of frequency are represented in topologically neighbouring neurons in the brain. Tonotopic maps are a particular case of topographic organization.
There is tonotopy in the cochlea, the small snail-like structure in the inner ear that sends information about sound to the brain.
There is also tonotopy in the human auditory cortex, that part of the brain that receives and interprets sound information:
-
- sounds of low pitch project into the anterolateral aspect of Heschl's gyrus
- sounds of high pitch project deeply into the lateral fissure (which houses Heschl's gyrus).
See also
 |
This science article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 10 November 2008, at 20:09.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by PediaView.com. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with PediaView.com.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Tonotopy".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.