If you’re like most people in San Francisco with a basic understanding of the hearing process, you probably assume your ears are responsible for hearing. In reality, your brain does most of the work! We’re not saying your ears aren’t important. After all, you need them to keep your sunglasses from falling off.
OK, they serve other important functions, as well. But when it comes to hearing, they actually play a secondary role.
Let’s Hear it for the Brain
To understand how your brain is responsible for hearing, let’s take a look at how auditory processing works. The ear is made up of three parts – the outer, middle and inner ear. Sound waves enter the outer ear and are funneled through the middle ear to the inner ear, where vibrations stimulate tiny hair cells in the cochlea. These hair cells transmit the electrical impulses generated as a result of this movement to the brain via the auditory nerve, where they are translated into sounds we can identify. The brain is able to discriminate relevant sounds from background noise, filtering out unimportant and distracting sounds so we can concentrate on what we are listening to. The brain also amplifies the volume of our own speech, boosting the sounds we make to enable us to hear our own voices clearly.
Think of it this way: the ears are a delivery system, but the brain is the true workhorse, responsible for turning a jumble of noise into coherent messaging.
Hearing Loss, Tinnitus & The Brain
Just as the brain is responsible for hearing, it also must take some of the blame when it comes to auditory processing disorders. The ears may still deliver electrical signals as normal, but the brain can have trouble processing them into recognizable sounds. This often occurs as a result of aging, structural abnormalities or untreated hearing loss that causes auditory deprevation. Changes in auditory processing can make it difficult for patients with hearing loss to understand sounds, even when treating their impairment with amplification (hearing aids).
The brain also plays a role in tinnitus, the perception of noise – usually described as a ringing in the ear(s) – despite the absence of a physical sound source. Tinnitus has many causes, but researchers believe one of the most common may be the result of changes in the brain associated with hearing loss; this causes neurons in the brain to misfire, leading to the perception of sound. Tinnitus retraining therapy, which relies on a series of patterned musical tones, can help retrain the part of the brain responsible for interpreting sound, allowing the neurons to return to their natural state.
Your Walnut Creek audiology clinic can help answer any questions you have about hearing loss, tinnitus and the role your brain plays in auditory processing.
FAQs
Signals from the right ear travel to the auditory cortex, which is in the temporal lobe on the brain's left side. Signals from the left ear travel to the right auditory cortex. The auditory cortices sort, process, interpret and file information about the sound.
Is the brain responsible for hearing? ›
The auditory cortex in the brain's temporal lobe is responsible for processing sound signals sent from the auditory nerve. Therefore, this brain region is responsible for interpreting and understanding the different elements of sound, such as pitch, tone, and frequency.
How long does it take the brain to process sound? ›
The brain takes signals, and turns them into words and sentences and, then eventually, into ideas. In a few tenths of a second, a sound from your ear can become an idea in your mind.
Does your brain get used to hearing loss? ›
While the brain's ability to adapt and change is remarkable, the sad fact is that this reorganizing of cells in the auditory cortex often leads to more rapid cognitive decline. With age related hearing loss, the auditory cortex shrinks.
Can your brain hear your thoughts? ›
Internal monologue means more than just pondering over your own thoughts. It consists of inner speech, where you can “hear” your own voice play out phrases and conversations in your mind. This is a completely natural phenomenon. Some people might experience it more than others.
Do you listen with your mind or heart or body? ›
The solution is simple: Learn to listen to your heart instead of your head. When you do this, you'll find yourself making better decisions and reaching for opportunities that might otherwise have seemed too risky or uncertain. You'll also care less about what other people think and more about what makes you happy.
What is the relationship between the brain and the ear? ›
The Inner Ear
As the fluid moves, 25,000 nerve endings are set into motion. These nerve endings transform the vibrations into electrical impulses that then travel along the eighth cranial nerve (auditory nerve) to the brain. The brain then interprets these signals, and this is how we hear.
What part of the brain is damaged in hearing loss? ›
Even in these mild, sloping hearing loss cases, auditory cortex activity is decreased and frontal lobe activity is increased on listening tasks. Why does this matter? Well, the frontal and pre-frontal areas are critical for working memory and executive function.
What part of the brain controls tinnitus? ›
Several studies in humans have sought to identify limbic system changes associated with the tinnitus percept. Rauschecker and colleagues propose that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and the nucleus accumbens are closely involved in the generation and maintenance of tinnitus [7, 14, 77, 80].
What type of hearing loss cannot be fixed? ›
Sensorineural Hearing Loss
It can be a result of aging, exposure to loud noise, injury, disease, certain drugs or an inherited condition. This type of hearing loss is typically not medically or surgically treatable; however, many people with this type of loss find that hearing aids can be beneficial.
The inner ear includes the cochlea (KOH-klee-uh) and the semicircular canals. The snail-shaped cochlea changes the vibrations from the middle ear into nerve signals. These signals travel to the brain along the cochlear nerve, also known as the auditory nerve.
Does your brain process sound while you sleep? ›
Brain cells in the primary auditory cortex responded to the stimulation during sleep but higher brain regions showed subdued responses. "That's probably why we are still not conscious, although we are still processing the sensory information from the external world,” Fried said.
Is an ear problem related to the brain? ›
It is caused by disruption of the nerve impulses travelling from the inner ear to the brain, although what causes this is unknown, and there is no cure. Both ears are usually affected, and the hearing loss ranges from mild to severe. Auditory neuropathy is sometimes referred to as a form of neural or nerve deafness.
Does being deaf in one ear affect your brain? ›
You may struggle to multi-task: Because of all of the above, single-sided deafness increases cognitive load on the brain, leading to listening fatigue. The more noise there is, the longer it takes your brain to focus on the tasks at hand.
Is tinnitus linked to dementia? ›
A recently published study has unveiled that elderly tinnitus patients face a considerably higher risk of dementia, and they also exhibit associations with other cognitive impairments, including anxiety, depression, and sleep difficulties (Malesci et al., 2021).
Does the brain have a sound? ›
At every moment, neurons whisper, shout, sputter and sing, filling the brain with a dizzying cacophony of voices. Yet many of those voices don't seem to be saying anything meaningful at all. They register as habitual echoes of noise, not signal; as static, not discourse.
Can your brain make you hear things? ›
Hearing voices may be a symptom of a mental illness. A doctor may diagnose you 'psychosis' or 'bipolar disorder'. But you can hear voices without having a mental health diagnosis. Research shows that many people hear voices or experience other types of hallucinations.
What part of your brain listens? ›
The auditory cortex is the part of the temporal lobe that processes auditory information in humans and many other vertebrates. It is a part of the auditory system, performing basic and higher functions in hearing, such as possible relations to language switching.
What part of your body do you hear with? ›
Your ears are organs that detect and analyze sound. Located on each side of your head, they help with hearing and balance.
