The auditory system has evolved to detect and discriminate between stimuli in complex listening environments. This ability to segregate and detect a stimulus of interest (e.g., a friend's voice) from competing background stimuli is facilitated by corticofugal processing, such as top-down attention. Although fundamental to hearing, our understanding of the neural basis of these processes is relatively limited. Here, we review our current understanding and identify important questions for the field.

Funding: NIH-NIDCD ARL