What's perceived so involuntary and done without thought can often be a mystery. Hearing is a major asset as part of our major senses that allows us to understand information, interact, and support our balance with our surroundings. For some, such as Marvel's Daredevil, although he has no vision his heightened sense of hearing has allowed him to even see with his hearing. The ability to hear is done by the organ known as the ear. The ear provides for the special sense of audition. Before our brain perceives what we hear it’s processed through different parts of the ear first. For infants the ability to hear is one of the first senses that becomes fully intact compared to the other senses which are still developing [1]. The ear is made up …show more content…
Both the eardrum, pinna, and the ear canal are present in the outer ear. The sounds waves are received by the pinna from the outside surrounding environment. The waves or vibrations goes through the external auditory canal towards the tympanic membrane.
As it travels to the tympanic membrane the sound vibrations allow for the eardrum to vibrate. This section of the ear is referred to as the middle ear. This section of the eardrum is an air filled cavity. The vibration of the ear drum are sent to the ossicles, which adjust the vibrations sent to the cochlea at the inner part of the ear. Malleus, incus, and the stapes otherwise known commonly as the hammer, anvil, and stirrup are what makes up the ossicles [2]. The fluid movement in the cochlea, promotes changes in the hair cells which occurs at the inner part of the ear as a result of the ossicles vibrating [4].
After the sound vibrations have reached the inner ear, it is transformed into an electrical impulse, which is then sent as a signal to the brain through the auditory nerve. The electrical signals at the inner ear are sent to the auditory nerve as a result of movement from the hair cells. This signal that sent to the brain is then translated into what we know as sound
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Some people may need assistance in being able to amplify those sound vibrations, which other people’s auditory system may process normally. People that have difficulty hearing may often be referred to a hearing aid device. The device amplifies the sound vibrations which are hear clearly by people without the device, but may not be heard by people who need the device. Hair cells within the ear are able to sense sound vibrations that are louder than usual, and transform them into electrical signals that are sent to the brain and processed as sound. The larger the damage to the hair cell’s in a person, the greater the hearing loss is. Depending on the magnitude of the hearing loss, will also determine the amount of amplification needed to allow for the hearing to reach a normal range. The downfall to this is that there are limitations as to how much you can amplify a sound through the hearing aid device. Also another factor is that if the inner ear is damaged to a certain point, then even with a hearing aid sound vibrations may not be able processed into electrical signals to be received by the auditory nerve
Hearing allows us to take in noises from the surrounding environment and gives us a sense of where things are in relation to us. All those little folds on the outside of the ear, called the tonotopic organization, make it so sound waves in the air are directed to the ear canal, where they can be further processed. Once in the ear, the sound waves vibrate the ear drum, which tell the ear exactly what frequency it is sensing. The vibration of the ear drum is not quite enough to send a signal to the brain, so it needs to be amplified, which is where the three tiny bones in the ear come into play. The malleus or hammer, incus or anvil, and stapes or stirrup amplify this sound and send it to the cochlea. The cochlea conducts the sound signal through a fluid with a higher inertia than air, so this is why the signal from the ear drum needs to be amplified. It is much harder to move the fluid than it is to move the air. The cochlea basically takes these physical vibrations and turns them into electrical impulses that can be sent to the brain. This is...
This may happen unconsciously, as is usually the case with soft background noise such as the whoosh of air through heating ducts or the distant murmur of an electric clothes dryer. Sometimes hearing is done semi-consciously; for instance, the roar of a piece of construction equipment might momentarily draw one's attention. Conscious hearing, or listening, involves a nearly full degree of mental concentration. A familiar instance in which listening takes place would be a casual conversation with a friend or colleague. In such cases, the sound waves entering the ear are transferred to the brain, which then
If you put your finger gently on a loudspeaker you will feel it vibrate - if it is playing a low note loudly you can see it moving. When it moves forwards, it compresses the air next to it, which raises its pressure. Some of this air flows outwards, compressing the next layer of air. The disturbance in the air spreads out as a travelling sound wave. Ultimately this sound wave causes a very tiny vibration in your eardrum - but that's another story.
A hearing loss can present many obstacles in one's life. I have faced many issues throughout my life, many of which affected me deeply. When I first realized that I was hearing-impaired, I didn't know what it meant. As I grew older, I came to understand why I was different from everyone. It was hard to like myself or feel good about myself because I was often teased. However, I started to change my attitude and see that wearing hearing aids was no different than people wearing glasses to see.
After the sound is processed in the cochlea, the auditory information travels into the brain in order to be interpreted.
From this point, vibration of the connective membrane (oval window) transforms mechanical motion into a pressure wave in fluid. This pressure wave enters and hence passes vibrations into the fluid filled structure called the cochlea. The cochlea contains two membranes and between these two membranes, are specialized neurons or receptors called hair cells. Once vibrations enter the cochlea, they cause the lower membrane (basilar membrane) to move in respect to the upper membrane (i.e. the tectorial membrane in which the hair cells are embedded). This movement bends the hair cells to cause receptor potentials in these cells which in turn cause the release of transmitter onto the neurons of the auditory nerve.
Hearing loss is a major global public health issue. Hearnet (2017) defines hearing loss as “a disability that occurs when one or more parts of the ear and/or the parts of the brain that make up the hearing pathway do not function normally” (para. 1). There are many different types of hearing loss, which can have multiple causes, giving each individual experiencing the issue a unique hearing loss case. These types include Auditory Processing Disorders, when the brain has problems processing sound information; Conductive Hearing Loss, a problem with the outer or middle ear which prevents sound making its way to the inner ear; and Sensorineural Hearing Loss, when the Cochlea or auditory nerve is damaged and cannot
First let’s look at what happens when you hear music. Here is a diagram that shows and explains what happens when you listen to music. Outer ea...
Auditory localization is the ability to recognize the location from which a sound is emanating (Goldstine, 2002). There are many practical reasons for studying auditory localization. For example, previous research states that visual cues are necessary in locating a particular sound (Culling, 2000). However, blind people do not have the luxury of sight to help them locate a sound. Therefore, the ability to locate sound based only on auditory ability is important. It is also important to study different auditory processes. For example, when studying a way for a blind person to maneuver through an environment, it is helpful to know that people can most accurately locate sounds that happen directly in front of them; sounds that are far off, to the side, or behind the head are the least likely to be properly located (Goldstein, 2002).
Hearing loss is also known as hearing impairment. Hearing loss happens when something in your ear or ears is damaged. People who have hearing loss, sometimes can hear a little, but it is muffled and others can not hear at all. Hearing impairments happen from noise, aging, disease, and heredity. Men are more likely to have hearing loss than women. Hearing loss has negative effects on people, and sometimes can lead to other problems. For example, some people with hearing loss become depressed, they become depressed because they are embarrassed and confused when people are speaking to them and usually people who are depressed by hearing loss box themselves off from others so they do not need to feel embarrasse...
The current hypothesis is that one of my genes is a mutated gene, that mutated gene is what is causing my hearing loss. If this is the real reason why I have hearing loss, there is also worry for what other problems does this mutated gene cause. With finding a mutated gene, they will most likely be able to predict how much worse my hearing will get. Another possible but not likely cause is a tumor, currently, I have to get an MRI to make sure that there is no growth inside of my head. If there is a growth, that will lead to some serious issues. The last possible cause is that loud noises have damaged my hearing, but it is even more less likely than a tumor. I am almost never exposed to loud music, concerts, or anything of that nature, which would causes hearing loss. Since I've been losing hearing since I was 5, they have practically ruled that one out because it makes no
Sounds are produced by the vibrations of material objects, and travel as a result of
It is a well established fact, that during the fetal period, the brain undergoes extensive developmental changes, with new synapses being formed continuously in response to external cues being delivered to the fetus. This development of neuronal connectivity enables the fetus to recognize and analyze complex information. This is especially true in the development of the auditory nervous system. A strong model of the auditory development in response ...
The External or Outer Ear - comprises of the auricle or pinna which is the fleshy part of the outer ear. It is cup-shaped and collects and amplifies sound waves which then passes along the ear canal to the ear drum or tympanic membrane. The rim of the auricle is called the helix and the inferior portion is called the lobule. The external auditory canal is a carved tube and contains a few hair and ceruminous glands which are specialized sebaceous or oil glands. These secrete ear wax or cerumen. Both the hairs and the cerumen help prevent dust and foreign objects from entering the ear. A number of people produce large amounts of cerumen, and this sometimes cause the build up to be impacted and can bri...
Hearing is known to be an automatic function of the body. According to the dictionary, hearing is, “the faculty or sense by which sound is perceived; the act of perceiving sound,” (“hearing…”). Hearing is a physical and involuntary act; therefore, unless one is born with a specific form of deafness, everyone has the natural ability to hear sounds. Sounds constantly surround us in our everyday environments, and because we are so accustomed to hearing certain sounds we sometimes don’t acknowledge them at all (or “listen” to them). The dictionary definition of listening is, “to give attention with the ear; attend closely for the purpose of hearing,” (“listening…”).