eli5 How does the brain separate out frequencies it’s hearing so that we can make out different instruments in a song? It seems like some insanely complex analysis behind the scenes??
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At the ear level, there are hair cells which bend in response to sound. They’re arranged in a way where lower frequencies will stimulate one area of hair cells and higher frequencies another. This signal is then transduced to the brain to the auditory cortex, where frequencies are then encoded. From what I remember the auditory cortex separates high and low frequencies by location though with all things with the brain it’s pretty complex.
Your ears can also do something called the attenuation reflex, where a muscle in your ear contracts which stiffens the tympanic membrane, which can minimize the amount of high intensity sound that gets transmitted to your inner ear.
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