Auditory neuroscience: Development, transduction and integration

Hearing underlies our ability to locate sound sources in the environment, o ur appreciation of music, and our ability to communicate. Participants in t he National Academy of Sciences colloquium on Auditory Neuroscience: Develo pment, Transduction, and Integration presented research results bearing on four key issues in auditory research. How does the complex inner ear develo p? How does the cochlea transduce sounds into electrical signals? How does the brain's ability to compute the location of a sound source develop? How does the forebrain analyze complex sounds, particularly species-specific co mmunications:, This article provides an introduction to the papers stemming from the meeting.