Auditory Perceptual Learning
- MRC Institute of Hearing Research, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
This extract was created in the absence of an abstract.
An interesting phenomenon in science is how the discovery of new techniques, findings, or theoretical understanding can produce cyclical waves of interest in a research area. Such is the case for perceptual learning, which is currently enjoying a renaissance following previous periods of excitement, some 50 and 100 years ago (Meyer 1899; Seashore et al. 1908; Gibson 1953). In this issue, Karmarkar and Buonomano (2003) energize this resurgence with exciting work on auditory perceptual learning.
There seem to be two converging reasons for the revival of interest in this field. The first derives from discoveries in neuroscience of plasticity in the mature brain (for review, see Calford 2002). Initially prompted by findings that lesions in the peripheral somatosensory system led to remapping of the lesioned limb or digit in the cortex, this field evolved in several directions, including studies of how intensive, specific training could also lead to …
