Editing Auditory system (section)

=== Primary auditory cortex ===
{{main|Primary auditory cortex}}

The [[primary auditory cortex]] is the first region of [[cerebral cortex]] to receive auditory input.

Perception of sound is associated with the left posterior [[superior temporal gyrus]] (STG). The superior temporal gyrus contains several important structures of the brain, including [[Brodmann areas]] 41 and 42, marking the location of the [[primary auditory cortex]], the cortical region responsible for the sensation of basic characteristics of sound such as pitch and rhythm. We know from research in nonhuman primates that the primary auditory cortex can probably be divided further into functionally differentiable subregions.<ref name="pmid8578069">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Pandya DN |year=1995 |title=Anatomy of the auditory cortex |journal=Revue Neurologique |volume=151 |issue=8–9 |pages=486–94 |pmid=8578069}}</ref><ref name="pmid9575378">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Kaas JH, Hackett TA |year=1998 |title=Subdivisions of auditory cortex and levels of processing in primates |journal=Audiology & Neuro-Otology |volume=3 |issue=2–3 |pages=73–85 |doi=10.1159/000013783 |pmid=9575378 |s2cid=46858666}}</ref><ref name="pmid10322185">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Kaas JH, Hackett TA, Tramo MJ |date=April 1999 |title=Auditory processing in primate cerebral cortex |journal=Current Opinion in Neurobiology |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=164–70 |doi=10.1016/S0959-4388(99)80022-1 |pmid=10322185 |s2cid=22984374}}</ref><ref name="pmid11050211">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Kaas JH, Hackett TA |date=October 2000 |title=Subdivisions of auditory cortex and processing streams in primates |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=97 |issue=22 |pages=11793–9 |bibcode=2000PNAS...9711793K |doi=10.1073/pnas.97.22.11793 |pmc=34351 |pmid=11050211 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
<ref name="pmid11745645">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Hackett TA, Preuss TM, Kaas JH |date=December 2001 |title=Architectonic identification of the core region in auditory cortex of macaques, chimpanzees, and humans |journal=The Journal of Comparative Neurology |volume=441 |issue=3 |pages=197–222 |doi=10.1002/cne.1407 |pmid=11745645 |s2cid=21776552}}</ref><ref name="pmid12536133">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Scott SK, Johnsrude IS |date=February 2003 |title=The neuroanatomical and functional organization of speech perception |journal=Trends in Neurosciences |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=100–7 |citeseerx=10.1.1.323.8534 |doi=10.1016/S0166-2236(02)00037-1 |pmid=12536133 |s2cid=10390565}}</ref><ref name="pmid11303104">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Tian B, Reser D, Durham A, Kustov A, Rauschecker JP |date=April 2001 |title=Functional specialization in rhesus monkey auditory cortex |journal=Science |volume=292 |issue=5515 |pages=290–3 |bibcode=2001Sci...292..290T |doi=10.1126/science.1058911 |pmid=11303104 |s2cid=32846215}}</ref>
The neurons of the primary auditory cortex can be considered to have [[receptive field]]s covering a range of [[audio frequency|auditory frequencies]] and have selective responses to harmonic pitches.<ref name="pmid24381544">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Wang X |date=December 2013 |title=The harmonic organization of auditory cortex |journal=Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience |volume=7 |pages=114 |doi=10.3389/fnsys.2013.00114 |pmc=3865599 |pmid=24381544 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Neurons integrating information from the two ears have receptive fields covering a particular region of auditory space.

The primary auditory cortex is surrounded by secondary auditory cortex, and interconnects with it. These secondary areas interconnect with further processing areas in the [[superior temporal gyrus]], in the dorsal bank of the [[superior temporal sulcus]], and in the [[frontal lobe]]. In humans, connections of these regions with the [[middle temporal gyrus]] are probably important for [[speech perception]].  The frontotemporal system underlying auditory perception allows us to distinguish sounds as speech, music, or noise.