Nonauditory

Nonauditory is an adjective used to describe something that is not related to or not limited to audition. In scientific and academic contexts, it often refers to senses, stimuli, or brain processes that do not involve auditory information. The term broadly contrasts with auditory, which pertains to hearing.

In neuroscience and psychology, nonauditory modalities include visual, olfactory, gustatory, and somatosensory inputs. Researchers study how these non-hearing channels contribute to perception, attention, and behavior, and how they interact with auditory information in multisensory integration. Nonauditory brain regions or responses describe neural activity elicited by non-auditory stimuli, as distinct from regions dedicated to processing sound.

Clinically, nonauditory processing can refer to how individuals perceive and respond to non-hearing information, or to disorders affecting non-auditory sensory systems. It is not a clinical diagnosis by itself but a descriptive term used to categorize sensory or cognitive tasks and processes that do not rely on auditory input.

Etymology and usage notes: the term derives from the Latin root audi- for hearing, prefixed by non- to indicate absence, with the suffix -tory forming an adjective. It is commonly written as nonauditory or non-auditory, depending on style guides. While common in scientific literature, it is less frequent in everyday language and its exact emphasis can vary by discipline.