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Tonotopy (from Greek tono- and topos = place: the place of tones) is the spatial arrangement of where sound is perceived, transmitted, or received. It refers to the fact that tones close to each other in terms of frequency are represented in topologically neighbouring neurons in the brain. Tonotopic maps are a particular case of topographic organization.
There is tonotopy in the cochlea, the small snail-like structure in the inner ear that sends information about sound to the brain.
There is also tonotopy in the human auditory cortex, that part of the brain that receives and interprets sound information:
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- sounds of low pitch project into the anterolateral aspect of Heschl's gyrus
- sounds of high pitch project deeply into the lateral fissure (which houses Heschl's gyrus).
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