Why is the shape of the basilar membrane important in coding the frequency of sounds?
A. It is not important. The shape of the membrane has no impact on the coding of sound frequency.
B. The fibers at the free end are longer than the fibers at the attached end, which means the longer fibers vibrate at a lower frequency than the shorter fibers.
C. The fibers at the free end are shorter than the fibers at the attached end, which means the shorter fibers vibrate at a lower frequency than the shorter fibers.
D. The fibers at the free end are shorter than the fibers at the attached end, which means the longer fibers vibrate at a higher frequency than the shorter fibers.
ANS: B
Rationale: The shape of the basilar membrane is important in coding the frequency of sounds. Because the basilar membrane is narrowest near the middle ear and widest at the free end, the fibers at the free end of the basilar membrane are longer than the fibers at the attached end. The longer fibers vibrate at a lower frequency than the shorter fibers. A low-frequency (low-pitched) sound will cause the longer fibers at the free end to vibrate more than the fibers at the attached end of the membrane. When the free end of the basilar membrane vibrates, the resulting neural signals are eventually perceived as low-pitched sounds.
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