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The absolute threshold of hearing (ATH), also known as the absolute hearing threshold or auditory threshold, is the minimum sound level of a pure tone that an average human ear with normal hearing can hear with no other sound present. The absolute threshold relates to the sound that can just be heard by the organism.
It is approximately the quietest sound a young human with undamaged hearing can detect at 1,000 Hz. [15] The threshold of hearing is frequency dependent and it has been shown that the ear's sensitivity is best at frequencies between 1 kHz and 5 kHz. [15] Humans typically have a lower hearing threshold for their own names.
The hearing range of birds is most sensitive between 1 kHz and 4 kHz, but their full range is roughly similar to human hearing, with higher or lower limits depending on the bird species. No kind of bird has been observed to react to ultrasonic sounds, but certain kinds of birds can hear infrasonic sounds. [29] "Birds are especially sensitive to ...
It is one of the traditional five senses. Partial or total inability to hear is called hearing loss. In humans and other vertebrates, hearing is performed primarily by the auditory system: mechanical waves, known as vibrations, are detected by the ear and transduced into nerve impulses that are perceived by the brain (primarily in the temporal ...
The human auditory system is sensitive to frequencies from about 20 Hz to a maximum of around 20,000 Hz, although the upper hearing limit decreases with age. Within this range, the human ear is most sensitive between 2 and 5 kHz, largely due to the resonance of the ear canal and the transfer function of the ossicles of the middle ear.
For example, aging typically leads to hearing thresholds which get poorer as test frequencies get higher. [10] Noise induced hearing loss is typically characterized by a "notch" in the audiogram, with the poorest threshold occurring between 3000 and 6000 Hz (most often 4000 Hz) and better thresholds at lower and higher frequencies.
The human ear can nominally hear sounds in the range 20 to 20 000 Hz. The upper limit tends to decrease with age; most adults are unable to hear above 16 000 Hz. Under ideal laboratory conditions, the lowest frequency that has been identified as a musical tone is 12 Hz. [6] Tones between 4 and 16 Hz can be perceived via the body's sense of touch.
This phenomenon is called on-frequency masking and occurs because the masker and signal are within the same auditory filter (Figure C). This means that the listener cannot distinguish between them and they are perceived as one sound with the quieter sound masked by the louder one (Figure D). Figure E – adapted from Moore 1998 [5]