THE SENSE OF SOUND

The mechanism behind human hearing is interesting. Sounds set up vibrations of air that beat against the eardrum. This pushes a chain of tiny bones in the middle ear to create motion in the fluid of the inner ear, the cochlea. This structure is a spiral canal covered with hair cells. This motion agitates the hair cells which in turn stimulates nearby neurons that give rise to impulses that travel to the brain. This results is the brainsÆ interpretation and thus you can hear(Marieb, E.N.)

Concerns with Sensory Evaluation:

Common noise characteristics of food include crispy, crunchy and squeaky.

Familiarity with the concepts of intensity, measured in decibels, and pitch, determined by the frequency of sound waves, should be undertaken by the sensory analyst.

Updated 8/29/97. Send mail to Food Resource, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR.