The prime auditory problem is separating and identifying sounds from an unlabeled mixture

Evidence

The fundamental problem in audition is determining the mechanisms required by the brain to transform an unlabelled mixture of auditory stimuli into coherent perceptual representations. This process is called auditory-scene analysis. The perceptual representations that result from auditory-scene analysis are formed through a complex interaction of perceptual grouping, attention, categorization and decision-making. Despite a great deal of scientific energy devoted to understanding these aspects of hearing, we still do not understand (1) how sound perception arises from neural activity and (2) the causal relationship between neural activity and sound perception. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 4875

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines auditory-scene analysis as conversion of unlabelled sound mixtures into coherent perceptual representations.