Plasticity of spectral processing

In the last two decades, a substantial body of evidence has demonstrated that the spectral processing ability of human and animal listeners and die response characteristics of neurons in circuits at higher brain levels that are involved in auditory spectral processing can be modified by experience. This plasticity can occur as a consequence of particular forms of training or perceptual experience, or of damage to the cochlea that results in changes in input to the central nervous system and in partial hearing loss. In this chapter, physiological and psychophysical evidence for the occurrence of such spectral processing plasticity is reviewed, the possible underlying mechanisms are examined, and therapeutic applications are considered.