Research reveals how brain distinguishes speech from noise ANI | Updated: Dec 21, 2020 11:48 IST
Washington (US), December 21 (ANI): During a recent study, researchers provided the first physiological evidence that a foundational center of the brain influences how sound is processed by identifying a previously unknown neural circuit.
For the first time, researchers have provided physiological evidence that a pervasive neuromodulation system - a group of neurons that regulate the functioning of more specialized neurons - strongly influences sound processing in an important auditory region of the brain. The neuromodulator, acetylcholine, may even help the main auditory brain circuitry distinguish speech from noise. This study was published in the Journal JNeurosci: The Journal of Neuroscience
Physiological evidence influences sound processing in the brain’s auditory region
For the first time, researchers have provided physiological evidence that a pervasive neuromodulation system - a group of neurons that regulate the functioning of more specialized neurons - strongly influences sound processing in an important auditory region of the brain. The neuromodulator, acetylcholine, may even help the main auditory brain circuitry distinguish speech from noise.
While the phenomenon of these modulators influence has been studied at the level of the neocortex, where the brain s most complex computations occur, it has rarely been studied at the more fundamental levels of the brain.