Auditory and Visual Sensations [Paperback]

Ando establishes a theory of subjective preference of the sound field in a concert hall, based on preference theory with a model of human auditory- brain system. The model uses the autocorrelation function and the interaural crosscorrelation function for signals arriving at two ear entrances and considers the specialization of human cerebral hemispheres. The theory may be applied to describe primary sensations such as pitch or missing fundamental, loudness, timbre, and duration. The theory may also be applied to visual sensations as well as subjective preference of visual environments. Remarkable findings in activities in both auditory-brain and visual-brain systems in relation to subjective preference as a primitive response are described.

Establishing a theory of subjective preference of the sound field in a concert hall, Ando bases this work on preference theory, along with a model of the human auditory-brain system. The model considers the specialization of human cerebral hemispheres.

The subject of the book is the grounding of architectural acoustics in psychophysics (perception, listener preferences) and neuroscience (auditory function, neural correlates of perception and preference). This is the first rational-scientific approach to designing performance spaces that is based on systematic psychoacoustical observations of spatial hearing and listener preferences. Observations of the neuronal correlates of auditory qualities and listener preferences ground the theory of listener preferences in the neurophysiology of the human brain. A correlation-based model of neuronal signal processing in the central auditory system is proposed. Observed psychological and neurophysiological commonalities between auditory and visual sensations and preference patterns are presented and discussed. This book thus spans the disciplines of physics, acoustics, psychology, neurophysiology, and music production, thereby blending science and art.