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The fourth edition of "An Introduction to the Physiology of Hearing" (2012) is published by Brill, The Netherlands (originally by Emerald, UK). It is also currently available through Amazon and Blackwells. From a Review of the 3rd edition:  

"The third edition of this book continues the tradition of excellence set by the first two. …  This text incorporates a thorough compilation of notable accomplishments in auditory physiology in recent years and thus provides an invaluable updated summary of the workings of the auditory system. I cannot overstate the usefulness of this text for anyone working in the area of audition, either in the laboratory or in a clinical capacity. …. Pickles takes sophisticated material and summarizes it in a way as to be understandable to many disciplines.…. masterful at describing how the function of the auditory system is related to the physiology…. I recommend this text highly to those in need of a comprehensive summary of the auditory system."  (Sininger, 2009).

From the blurb for the 4th edition: The book deals with the way that the auditory system processes acoustic signals. The current edition has been revised in all areas to reflect the progress that has been made since the 3rd edition. As well as dealing with the basic anatomy and physiology of all stages of the auditory system, the book relates basic physiological processes to the performance of the auditory system as a whole, in the perception of acoustic signals including speech. The chapter on sensorineural hearing loss not only describes the physiological and anatomical changes that are associated with hearing loss, but includes latest information on treatments including cochlear implants, and work being undertaken on stem cell and other cellular therapies for deafness.   A reading scheme has been provided to guide readers to the section most appropriate for their interests. The book is written so that those entering auditory research from very little background in auditory neuroscience are able to understand the current research issues and the current research literature. It is also intended to be a source book and reference work for advanced undergraduates studying the special senses, and for clinicians in the specialty of Otorhinolaryngology. * A contemporary look at the physiology of hearing: each chapter has been thoroughly revised * An excellent reading companion to practitioners and scholars * Also suitable for those undertaking auditory research * Includes a reading scheme to guide readers through the book Further information concerning the previous (3rd) edition can be found here.

Copyright requests: Copyright requests for figures or text excerpts where I am cited as holding the copyright, or where the citation is to Graceville Press, should be addressed to me at the email address below. Where there is no citation to other sources, the copyright is generally held by the publisher, who should initially be contacted for permission.

Errors: Fig. 7.2B - the labels RPB and CPB are reversed.

Please send notification of other errors to the email address below.

Jim Pickles was the Head of the Hearing Unit at the University of Queensland. He was previously Reader in Auditory Physiology in the Department of Physiology at the University of Birmingham, UK, and moved to the Vision Touch and Hearing Research Centre in 1989. His critical contribution, with colleagues Spiro Comis and Mike Osborne at the University of Birmingham, was the 1984 discovery of tip links between the stereocilia of hair cells of the cochlea (and in all other acouticolateral organs). We hypothesised that the tip links coupled the mechanical forces to the mechanotransducer channels on the hair cells. This has since has been shown to be correct. He has been financed by a Garnett Passe and Rodney Williams Memorial Foundation Senior Research Fellowship. Before that, he was an Australian Senior Research Fellow of the Australian Research Council. He is the author of An Introduction to the Physiology of Hearing (4th ed, Brill, 2012). Degrees: MA, DSc (Cambridge), MSc, PhD (Birmingham). email:

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