Departments of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery and Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2020 Feb;21(1):1-20. doi: 10.1007/s10162-019-00741-3. Epub 2020 Feb 4.
This study aims to document the historical conceptualization of the inner ear as the anatomical location for the appreciation of sound at a continuum of frequencies and to examine the evolution of concepts of tonotopic organization to our current understanding. Primary sources used are from the sixth century BCE through the twentieth century CE. Each work/reference was analyzed from two points of view: to understand the conception of hearing and the role of the inner ear and to define the main evidential method. The dependence on theory alone in the ancient world led to inaccurate conceptualization of the mechanism of hearing. In the sixteenth century, Galileo described the physical and mathematical basis of resonance. The first theory of tonotopic organization, advanced in the seventeenth century, was that high-frequency sound is mediated at the apex of the cochlea and low-frequency at the base of the cochlea. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, more accurate anatomical information was developed which led to what we now know is the accurate view of tonotopic organization: the high-frequency sound is mediated at the base and low-frequency sound at the apex. The electrical responses of the ear discovered in 1930 allowed for physiological studies that were consistent with the concept of a high to low tone sensitivity continuum from base to apex. In the mid-twentieth century, physical observations of models and anatomical specimens confirmed the findings of greater sensitivity to high tones at the base and low tones at the apex and, further, demonstrated that for high-intensity sound, there was a spread of effect through the entire cochlea, more so for low-frequency tones than for high tones. Animal and human behavioral studies provided empirical proof that sound is mediated at a continuum of frequencies from high tones at the base through low tones at the apex of the cochlea. Current understanding of the tonotopic organization of the inner ear with regard to pure tones is the result of the acquisition over time of knowledge of acoustics and the anatomy, physical properties, and physiology of the inner ear, with the ultimate verification being behavioral studies. Examination of this complex evolution leads to understanding of the way each approach and evidential method through time draws upon previously developed knowledge, with behavioral studies providing empirical verification.
这项研究旨在记录内耳作为声音频率连续体感知位置的历史概念化，并考察音调组织概念的演变，以了解我们目前的理解。使用的主要来源是公元前六世纪到二十世纪。从两个角度分析了每一项工作/参考文献：一是了解听觉的概念和内耳的作用，二是定义主要的证据方法。古代世界仅依赖理论导致了对听觉机制的不准确概念化。在 16 世纪，伽利略描述了共振的物理和数学基础。17 世纪提出的第一个音调组织理论是高频声音由耳蜗顶点介导，低频声音由耳蜗基部介导。在 18 世纪和 19 世纪，发展了更准确的解剖学信息，这导致了我们现在所知道的音调组织的准确观点：高频声音由基部介导，低频声音由顶点介导。1930 年发现的耳朵电反应允许进行与从基部到顶点的高音到低音敏感度连续体的概念一致的生理学研究。在 20 世纪中叶，对模型和解剖标本的物理观察证实了基底对高音和顶点对低音的敏感性更高的发现，并且进一步表明，对于高强度声音，整个耳蜗都会产生扩散效应，低频声音比高频声音更为明显。动物和人类行为研究提供了经验证据，证明声音是由从基部的高音到耳蜗顶点的低音在连续频率上介导的。目前对纯音内耳音调组织的理解是随着时间的推移获得对声音学和内耳解剖、物理特性和生理学的知识的结果，最终验证是行为研究。对这种复杂演变的考察导致了对每个方法和证据方法如何随着时间的推移利用先前开发的知识的理解，行为研究提供了经验验证。
