stimulus filtering

the specialization of the nervous system so that only critical stimuli reach the brain and irrelevant stimuli do not. Female bullfrogs have two auditory organs that respond only to the two dominant frequencies in male courtship calls. Moths have ears with only two neurons: The neurons respond only to sounds in the frequency range of bat ultrasound, and successive filters in the moth’s central nervous system ensure that only bat-produced sounds reach the brain.

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Psychology term of the day

March 13th 2025

visceral sense

the sense associated with functions of the viscera.