The Idiot Brain: A Neuroscientist Explains What Your Head is Really Up To

by Dean Burnett

These hair cells detect the vibrations in the cochlea, and fire off signals in response. But the hair cells only in certain parts of the cochlea are activated due to the specific frequencies travelling only certain distances. This means that there is essentially a frequency ‘map’ of the cochlea, with the regions at the very start of the cochlea being stimulated by higher-frequency soundwaves (meaning high-pitched noises, like an excited toddler inhaling helium) whereas the very ‘end’ of the cochlea is activated by the lowest-frequency soundwaves (very deep noises, like a whale singing Barry White songs). The areas between these extremes of the cochlea respond to the rest of the spectrum of sounds audible to humans (between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz).