Vocalizations and speech

One of the key functions of the human auditory system is of course to allow us to exchange ideas through speech. Human speech seems to be unique in its sophistication, but many animals use vocal communication to a greater or lesser extent. Chapter 4 of "Auditory Neuroscience" looks at the encoding and processing of vocalizations, and speech sounds in the central nervous system. The following pages provide supplementary material on this topic.