APA Dictionary of Psychology

the fundamental principle that different frequencies stimulate different places within structures of the mammalian auditory system. This organization begins in the cochlea, where different frequencies tend to cause maximal vibration at different places along the basilar membrane and thus stimulate different hair cells. The hair cells are discretely innervated, so different auditory nerve fibers respond to a relatively limited range of frequencies, with the maximal response at the best frequency of the fiber. This frequency-to-place mapping is preserved in the auditory cortex.