Sound, Ears, Brains and the World

Explore the fascinating world of auditory processing in this 59-minute lecture by Josh McDermott, Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. Delve into the early stages of human auditory processing and discover how crucial information about our environment is extracted from sound. Learn about the combination of auditory perception studies and computational modeling techniques used to investigate how the brain leverages regularities in reverberation to distinguish multiple sound sources, addressing the famous "Cocktail Party problem." Examine real-world auditory inputs, the importance of frequency modulation over time, and the differences between harmonic and inharmonic resynthesis. Investigate the role of reverberation in music production and analyze the empirical distribution of environmental impulse responses in both indoor and outdoor settings. Gain valuable insights into the complex mechanisms behind human hearing and sound perception through this comprehensive exploration of auditory neuroscience.

Intro
Consider some examples of typical auditory input
The listener is interested in what happened in the world to cause the sound
Much of the information in sound is carried by the way that frequencies are modulated over time, measured by the instantaneous amplitude in a subband
Real-world sounds are not random
Harmonic vs. Inharmonic Resynthesis
A second scene analysis problem
Reverb is a primary ingredient in music production
What is the empirical distribution of environmental impulse responses?
Qualitatively similar for indoor and outdoor environments
SUMMARY