One of the cochlear nucleus pathways goes to the superior olivary nuclei. Both the right and left superior olivary nuclei recieve input from both the right and left cochlear nuclei, causing bilateral input. This allows for the central nervous system to localize sound by comparing the input for both ears. 

Superior Olivary Nuclei

This is where some information from the cochlear nuclei converge. The outputs go to the medial geniculate nuclei.

Inferior colliculi

The brainstem nuclei that recieves imput from the auditory hairs sent from the vestibulochochlear nerve (cranial nerve VIII). The cochlear nucleus diverges into multiple pathways in the brain.

Grinnell College

The auditory pathway in the human brain represents the sequence of structures and processes that transmit auditory information. It begins with the mechanical activation of hair cells, which generates neural impulses. These impulses travel along the auditory nerve to the brain. The auditory information is then shuttled sequentially to the inferior colliculus, the medial geniculate nucleus of the thalamus, and finally to the auditory cortex in the temporal lobe for higher-level processing.

Auditory Pathways in the human brain

Breedlove, S. & Watson, N. (2017). Behavioral neuroscience, eighth edition. Oxford University Press.

Behavioral Neuroscience 8th Edition

Cochlear nucleus

The levels of auditory pathway display are spatially arranged based on frequency from high to low frequency.  

Tonotopic mapping of the Inferior Colliculus

The A1 is located at the upper surface of the temporal lobes. The A1 is activated by multiple stimuli, such as speech sounds and the process of lip-reading in hearing individuals. This suggests an integration of senses to process information.

Primary auditory cortex (A1)

Similar to the visual system, the brain processes different aspects of auditory information through parallel streams. Evidence suggests that distinct pathways are used for auditory recognition (identifying what a sound is) and localization (determining where a sound is coming from).

Auditory Parallel Processing

A patient has a small, localized brainstem lesion. While they can still hear sounds clearly with both ears and identify what the sounds are (e.g., a bell, a voice), they have significant difficulty determining the direction or location of the sound source. This specific deficit in sound localization suggests damage to which of the following structures?

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