ADAPTATION

• Adaptation refers to changing sensitivity in response to a continued stimulus, and is likely a feature of the mechanoelectrical transformation in the cochlea.
  
  
• Neurons tuned to a frequency where energy is present do not change their firing rate drastically for the next sound.
  
  
• Additive broadband noise does not significantly change the firing rate for a neuron in the region of a formant.
  
  
• The McGurk Effect is an auditory illusion which results from combining a face pronouncing a certain syllable with the sound of a different syllable. The illusion is stronger for some combinations than for others. For example, an auditory 'ba' combined with a visual 'ga' is perceived by some percentage of people as 'da'. A larger proportion will perceive an auditory 'ma' with a visual 'ka' as 'na'. Some researchers have measured evoked electrical signals matching the "perceived" sound.