Auditory pathway neural activity linearly encodes perceived loudness, not sound level

Evidence

Our findings support the notion that neural activation in auditory cortex as well as in certain stages of the ascending auditory pathway is more a direct linear reflection of perceived loudness rather than of physical sound intensity. There are, however, systematic differences between the investigated auditory regions in terms of the strength of this relationship and the degree of lateralization. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 2610