Why You Shouldn’t Wait to Treat Your Hearing Loss

August 27, 2015 By Leave a Comment

We all procrastinate, regularly talking ourselves out of complex or unpleasant activities in favor of something more pleasing or fun. Distractions abound as we tell ourselves that we will some day get around to whatever we’re currently working to avoid.

Sometimes, procrastination is relatively harmless. We might plan to clear out the basement, for instance, by throwing out or donating the items we seldom use. A clean basement sounds good, but the work of actually hauling things to the donation center is not so satisfying. In the interest of short-term pleasure, it’s very easy to find myriad alternatives that would be more pleasant—so you put it off.

Other times, procrastination is not so benign, and when it comes to hearing loss, it could be downright hazardous. While no one’s idea of a good time is getting a hearing test, recent research reveals that neglected hearing loss has serious physical, mental, and social consequences.

To understand why, you need to start with the impact of hearing loss on the brain itself. Here’s a popular analogy: if any of you have ever broken a bone, let’s say your leg, you know what happens just after you take the cast off. You’ve lost muscle size and strength from inactivity, because if you don’t repeatedly use your muscles, they get weaker.

The same occurs with your brain. If you under-utilize the part of your brain that processes sounds, your capacity to process auditory information grows weaker. Researchers even have a term for this: they refer to it as “auditory deprivation.”

Returning to the broken leg example. Let’s say you took the cast off your leg but persisted to not make use of the muscles, relying on crutches to get around the same as before. What would happen? Your leg muscles would get increasingly weaker. The same happens with your brain; the longer you go with hearing loss, the a smaller amount of sound stimulation your brain gets, and the worse your hearing gets.

That, in essence, is auditory deprivation, which creates a host of additional disorders present research is continuing to unearth. For instance, a study directed by Johns Hopkins University revealed that those with hearing loss encounter a 40% decrease in cognitive function compared to those with normal hearing, as well as an enhanced risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia.

Generalized cognitive decline also triggers significant mental and social consequences. A leading study by The National Council on the Aging (NCOA) revealed that those with neglected hearing loss were much more likely to report depression, anxiety, and paranoia, and were less likely to participate in social activities, compared to those who wear hearing aids.

So what begins as an inconvenience—not having the capability hear people clearly—leads to a downward spiral that affects all aspects of your health. The sequence of events is clear: Hearing loss leads to auditory deprivation, which produces general cognitive decline, which leads to psychological harm, including depression and anxiety, which ultimately leads to social isolation, strained relationships, and an increased risk of developing serious medical issues.

The Benefits of Hearing Aids

So that was the bad news. The good news is equally encouraging. Let’s visit the broken leg illustration one last time. Just after the cast comes off, you start exercising and stimulating the muscles, and over time, you recover your muscle mass and strength.

The same process once again applies to hearing. If you enhance the stimulation of sound to your brain with hearing aids, you can regain your brain’s ability to process and understand sound. This leads to better communication, better psychological health, and ultimately to better relationships. And, in fact, as reported by The National Council on the Aging, hearing aid users report improvements in almost every area of their lives.

Are you ready to accomplish the same improvement?

Filed Under: Anatomy and Physiology, Articles, Common Conditions of the Ear, Hearing, Hearing Loss, Preventative Care

6 Ways Your Brain Transforms Sound Into Emotion

August 13, 2015 By Leave a Comment

It has long been known that there are strong connections among sound, music, emotion, and memory, and that our personal experiences and preferences determine the type and intensity of emotional reaction we have to various sounds.

For example, research has revealed these prevalent associations between certain sounds and emotions:

  • The sound of a thunderstorm evokes a feeling of either relaxation or anxiety, depending on the individual
  • Wind chimes commonly provoke a restless feeling
  • Rain evokes a feeling of relaxation
  • Fireworks evoke a feeling of nostalgia and pleasurable memories
  • The vibrations of a cell phone are often perceived as irritating

Other sounds have a more universal identity. UCLA researchers have observed that the sound of laughter is universally identified as a positive sound signifying enjoyment, while other sounds are globally associated with fear, anger, disgust, sadness, and surprise.

So why are we susceptible to particular emotional responses in the presence of certain sounds? And why does the response tend to differ between individuals?

Although the answer is still effectively a mystery, current research by Sweden’s Lund University provides some fascinating insights into how sound and sound environments can affect humans on personal, emotional, and psychological levels.

Here are six psychological mechanisms through which sound may stir up emotions:

1. Brain-Stem Reflex

You’re seated quietly in your office when all of a sudden you hear a loud, sudden crash. What’s your response? If you’re like most, you become emotionally aroused and compelled to investigate. This kind of impulse is subconscious and hard-wired into your brain to warn you to possibly critical or life-threatening sounds.

2. Evaluative Conditioning

People frequently associate sounds with selected emotions based on the context in which the sound was heard. For example, hearing a song previously played on your wedding day may produce feelings of joy, while the same song first heard by someone during a bad breakup may create the opposing feelings of sadness.

3. Emotional Contagion

When someone smiles or starts laughing, it’s difficult to not start smiling and laughing yourself. Research carried out in the 1990s revealed that the brain may contain what are referred to as “mirror neurons” that are active both when you are carrying out a task AND when you are observing someone else perform the task. When we hear someone speaking while crying, for example, it can be challenging to not also experience the corresponding feelings of sadness.

4. Visual Imagery

Let’s say you love listening to CDs that contain exclusively the sounds of nature. Why do you like it? Presumably because it evokes a positive emotional experience, and, taking that even further, it most likely evokes some robust visual images of the natural surroundings in which the sounds are heard. Case in point, try listening to the sounds of waves crashing and NOT visualizing yourself relaxing at the beach.

5. Episodic Memory

Sounds can stimulate emotionally powerful memories, both good and bad. The sounds of rain can stir up memories of a pleasurable day spent at home, while the sound of thunder may lead to memories affiliated with combat experience, as seen in post-traumatic stress disorder.

6. Music Expectancy

Music has been depicted as the universal language, which seems logical the more you consider it. Music is, after all, simply a random assortment of sounds, and is pleasing only because the brain imposes order to the sounds and interprets the order in a specified way. It is, in fact, your expectations about the rhythm and melody of the music that trigger an emotional response.

Sound, Emotion, and Hearing Loss

Irrespective of your specific responses to different sounds, what is certain is that your emotions are directly involved. With hearing loss, you not only lose the capacity to hear particular sounds, you also lose the emotional impact tied to the sounds you can either no longer hear or can no longer hear well.

With hearing loss, for instance, nature walks become less pleasant when you can no longer hear the faint sounds of running water; music loses its emotional punch when you can’t differentiate specific instruments; and you place yourself at greater risk when you can’t hear fire alarms or other alerts to danger.

The truth is that hearing is more vital to our lives—and to our emotional lives—than we most likely realize. It also indicates that treating your hearing loss will probably have a greater impact than you realize, too.

What are some of your favorite sounds? What emotions do they evoke?

Are there any particular sounds or songs that make you feel happy, angry, annoyed, sad, or excited? Let us know in a comment.

Filed Under: Anatomy and Physiology, Articles, Common Conditions of the Ear, Hearing, Hearing Loss

6 Ways to Lose Your Hearing

August 6, 2015 By Leave a Comment

The strange part of hearing loss is that we don’t seem to start appreciating our favorite sounds until after we’ve lost the capability to clearly hear them. We don’t pause to contemplate, for instance, how much we enjoy a good conversation with a close friend until we have to recurrently ask them to repeat themselves.

Whether it’s your favorite Mozart album or the sounds of a Bluejay first thing in the morning, your total well being is directly tied to your ability to hear—whether you realize it or not. And if you wait until after you’ve lost your hearing to come to this awareness, you’re going to dedicate a good deal of time and effort working to get it back.

So how can you conserve your ability to hear?

Here are 6 ways you could lose your hearing and what you can do about it.

1. Genetics and aging

Age-related hearing loss, also called presbycusis, is the loss of hearing that slowly and gradually occurs as we grow old. Combined with presbycusis, there is also some evidence indicating that genetics plays a role, and that some of us are more prone to hearing loss than others.

While there’s not much you can do to prevent the process of getting older or adjust your genetics, you can protect against noise-induced hearing loss from the other causes mentioned below. And keep in mind that age-related hearing loss is significantly more difficult to treat if made worse by avoidable damage.

2. Traveling

Regular exposure to sound levels above 85 decibels can result in permanent hearing loss, which is not-so-good news if you happen to drive a convertible. New research shows that driving a convertible with the top down at excessive speeds generates an average sound volume level of 90 decibels. Motorcyclists experience even higher sounds and those who use the subway are at risk as well.

So does everybody either have to forego travel or live with permanent earplugs? Not exactly, but you should look for ways to reduce your collective noise exposure during travel. If you drive a convertible, roll up your windows and drive a little slower; if you own a motorcycle, put on a helmet and consider earplugs; and if you use the subway, consider buying noise-canceling headphones.

3. Going to work

According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), 22 million employees in the US are subjected to potentially harmful noise volumes on the job. The highest risk careers are in manufacturing, farming, construction, the military, and the music industry.

The last thing you need is to spend your entire work life accumulating hearing loss that will prevent you from enjoying your retirement. Check with your employer about its hearing protection plan, and if they do not have one, consult with your local hearing specialist for personalized solutions.

4. Taking drugs and smoking

Smoking impedes blood flow, among other things, which could enhance your risk of developing hearing loss—if you really required another reason to stop smoking. Antibiotics, strong pain medications, and a significant number of other drugs are “ototoxic,” or toxic to the cells of hearing. In fact, there are more than 200 known ototoxic medications.

The bottom line: avoid taking ototoxic drugs or medications unless completely necessary. Consult with your doctor if you have any questions.

5. Listening to music

85 is turning out to be quite an inconvenient number. Many of our favorite activities yield decibel levels just above this threshold, and any sound over 85 decibels can result in hearing loss. If the threshold were just slightly higher, say 100 decibels, we wouldn’t have to worry about it so much.

But 85 it is. And portable music players at full volume reach more than 100 decibels while rock shows reach more than 110. The solution is straight forward: turn down your iPod, wear earplugs at concerts, and minimize your exposure time to the music.

6. Getting sick or injured

Selected ailments, such as diabetes, along with any traumatic head injuries, places you at greater risk of developing hearing loss. If you have diabetes, regular exercise, a balanced diet, and consistent tracking of glucose levels is critical. And if you ride a motorcycle, wearing a helmet will help protect against traumatic head injuries.

Talk to Your Hearing Specialist

While there are several ways to lose your hearing, a few simple lifestyle alterations can help you safeguard your hearing for life. Keep in mind: the minimal hassle of wearing custom earplugs, driving with the windows up, or turning down your iPod are insignificant in comparison to the substantial inconvenience of hearing loss later in life.

Ready to take your hearing health seriously? Give us a call today.

Filed Under: Anatomy and Physiology, Articles, Common Conditions of the Ear, Hearing, Hearing Loss

Professional musicians at greater risk of developing hearing loss

February 28, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Continuous exposure to loud music: that’s what can damage your hearing. Hearing loss starts with recurrent exposure to sounds at or above 85 decibels (decibels being a unit used to measure loudness). This means musicians are at a very high risk, considering the high decibels found at a concert.

Check out these common activities:

Whisper at 6 feet: 30 decibels (dB)
Regular dialogue at 3 feet: 60 – 65 (dB)
Motorcycle: 100 dB
Front row at a rock show: 120 to 150 dB

A musician’s hearing is what is most predisposed to damage from the performance of their craft. Fame, wealth, and screaming fans — these are a couple of the terms and phrases you’d pick in order to summarize the everyday life of a professional musician. The terms “hearing loss” or “tinnitus,” signify the negative side-effects of all that glory, wealth, and screaming.
The culprit of all that hearing loss is recurring subjection to deafening noise. In the long run, loud noise will irreparably destroy the hair cells of the inner ear, which are the sensory receptors responsible for sending sound to the brain. Like an ample patch of grass worn out from frequent trampling, the hair cells can in a similar fashion be wiped out from repeated overexposure to loud noise – the dissimilarity, of course, being that you can’t grow brand new hair cells.

Signs of Hearing Loss

In reality, musicians are close to four times more likely to acquire noise-induced hearing loss in contrast with the average person, according to scientists at the Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology. The scientific study also discovered that professional musicians are about 57% more likely to suffer from tinnitus — a disorder connected with a repeated ringing in the ears.

Unfortunately, musicians don’t see an audiologist until it’s too late and they experience:

A ringing or buzzing sound in the ears
Any pain or discomfort in the ears
Difficulty comprehending speech
Trouble following discussions in the presence of background noise

The trouble is, when these symptoms are present, the damage has already been done. So, the leading thing a musician can do to deter long-term, permanent hearing loss is to schedule an appointment with an audiologist before symptoms are present.
If you’re a musician, an audiologist can recommend custom made musicians’ plugs or in-ear-monitors that will give protection to your hearing without limiting your musical performance. As a musician, you have unique needs for hearing and hearing protection, and audiologists or hearing specialists are the professionals specifically trained to provide this custom protection.
Considering the unique requirements of musicians — as well as the significance of protecting the details of sound — the best road to take is to schedule an appointment with an audiologist.

How musicians, and fans, can protect their ears

Rock shows are literally ear-splittingly loud, and continued unprotected exposure can cause some considerable harm, which several popular musicians know all too well.
Chris Martin, the lead vocalist for the band Coldplay, has dealt with with Tinnitus for a decade. According to Martin:
“Looking after your ears is unfortunately something you don’t think about until there’s a problem. I’ve had tinnitus for about 10 years, and since I started protecting my ears it hasn’t got any worse (touch wood). But I wish I’d thought about it earlier. Now we always use moulded filter plugs, or in-ear monitors, to try and protect our ears. You CAN use industrial headphones, but that looks strange at a party.”
Other significant musicians that suffer from hearing loss or tinnitus include Neil Young, Ozzy Osbourne, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend, Bono, Sting, Ryan Adams, and more, many of which indicate regret that they hadn’t done more to take care of their ears all through their careers. Lars Ulrich from Metallica points out:
“If you get a scratch on your nose, in a week that’ll be gone. When you scratch your hearing or damage your hearing, it doesn’t come back. I try to point out to younger kids … once your hearing is gone, it’s gone, and there’s no real remedy.”

Even though musicians are at greater risk for acquiring hearing loss or tinnitus, they can slash their risk by taking protective measures. Plus, everyday folks who are subjected to loud environments should also seek protection.

Filed Under: Anatomy and Physiology, Articles, Choosing a Hearing Aid, Common Conditions of the Ear, Hearing, Hearing Aid Technology, Hearing Aids, Hearing Loss, Preventative Care, Tinnitus

Curious about the Speech Banana? Discover What It Is and Why It Is Important

July 31, 2013 By Leave a Comment

“Speech bananas” are not mid-day snacks for hearing specialists.The thing that the term “speech banana” represents is a particular pattern found in the results of an audiogram, which is a graphical chart used to measure someone’s hearing proficiency within a set range of frequencies and volume levels. Audiograms are typically charted with the frequency level ( in Hertz) on one the x axis and loudness level (measured in Decibels) on the other axis.

When the standard sounds of human speech – or phonemes – are plotted on this kind of audiogram, they tend to all cluster inside an region of the graph that is shaped like a banana. The spoken sounds of nearly all letters of the alphabet plus the letter combinations th, ch, sh, and ng all cluster within this area.

For those who have normal hearing, you can hear sounds inside this area, but can also hear higher-frequency sounds such as a mosquito or leaves rustling and lower-frequency sounds such as tubas or machinery. However the sounds that are most critical to our communications with other individuals are the sounds we generate when speaking. Hearing loss often strikes this speech banana area, which results in people having trouble hearing or understanding the letter combinations ch, sh, th and ng.

As a result, audiologists are most focused on hearing loss that happens within the region of the speech banana. Whether the individual is old or young, if they are having difficulty hearing sounds within that frequency and volume range, they are almost by definition having trouble hearing speech, and thus have problems communicating properly with other people.

The range of spoken sounds captured by the speech banana is so critical to communications, that many school districts mandate hearing checks using audiograms to identify hearing impairments in this region. Since this range of sounds is so essential to human communications it is the range that most hearing aids are tuned and programmed for. Irrespective of whether you presently wear hearing aids or not, contact us if you have questions about your hearing ability in the speech banana frequency and volume range.

Filed Under: Anatomy and Physiology Tagged With: , , , ,

Promising Research Into Regenerating Inner Ear Hair Cells

May 23, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Many of the problems that cause hearing problems in our patients cannot be reversed which can be quite frustrating for our hearing professionals. One of the main reasons for hearing loss, for example, is damage to the tiny hair cells in our inner ears that vibrate in reaction to sound waves. These vibrations are interpreted by the brain into what we call hearing.

The sensitivity of these tiny hair cells enables them to vibrate in such a manner, and thus makes it possible for us to hear, but their very sensitivity makes them extremely fragile, and at risk of damage. This damage may occur as the result of aging, certain medications, infections, and by extended exposure to high-volume noises, resulting in noise-induced hearing loss. In humans, once these hair cells are damaged or destroyed, they cannot be regenerated or “fixed.” Since we cannot reverse the damage, hearing professionals and audiologists turn to technology instead. We make up for hearing loss due to inner ear hair cell damage with hearing aids and cochlear implants.

This would not be true if humans were more like fish and chickens. Unlike humans, some fish species and birds have the ability to regenerate their damaged inner ear hair cells and regain their lost hearing. Bizarre, but true. Zebra fish and chickens are just 2 examples of species that have the capacity to automatically replicate and replace their damaged inner ear hair cells, thus allowing them to fully recover from hearing loss.

While it is crucial to point out at the outset that the following research is in its beginning stages and that no practical benefits for humans have yet been achieved, sizeable breakthroughs in the treatment of hearing loss may come in the future as the result of the innovative Hearing Restoration Project (HRP). The not-for-profit organization, Hearing Health Foundation, is currently conducting research at laboratories in Canada and the United States Working to isolate the molecules that allow the replication and regeneration in some animals, HRP researchers hope to find some way to stimulate human inner ear hair cells to do the same.

Because there are so many distinct compounds involved in the regeneration process – some that facilitate replication, some that hinder it – the scientists’ work is slow-moving and challenging. But their hope is that if they can identify the molecules that stimulate this regeneration process to happen in avian and fish cochlea, they can find a way to stimulate it to happen in human cochlea. Some of the HRP researchers are pursuing gene therapies as a way to stimulate such regrowth, while others are working on stem cell-based approaches.

Although this work is still in the early stages, our staff wishes them quick success so that their results can be extended to humans. Absolutely nothing would be more satisfying than to be able to offer our hearing loss patients a true cure.

Filed Under: Anatomy and Physiology Tagged With: , , , , ,

Central Auditory Processing Disorder Essentials

March 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Central Auditory Processing Disorder, or CAPD, is a hearing disorder in which the trouble lies not with the ears, but with the brain. With Central Auditory Processing Disorder, your ears have no problem hearing sounds (especially the sounds associated with speech) properly, but something is affecting the brain’s ability to interpret these sounds. The disorder is thus characterized by a lack of coordination between the ears and the brain.

As many as 2 to 5 percent of school-age children are affected by CAPD including roughly half of all children that have been diagnosed with a learning disability. Children with CAPD often cannot discern the sounds of different words even when the words are spoken loud and clear. This inability to understand words often becomes worse in noisy environments, but is not as present in quiet environments.

CAPD is often difficult to detect, because when children’s hearing is tested in a quiet room, they can clearly hear the pure tones they hear through the testing equipment, and they similarly have no apparent problems hearing and interpreting speech in non-noisy environments. But even though their audiogram results may appear normal, children with CAPD often have difficulty locating where sounds are coming from, difficulty discerning the differences between two similar sounds, difficulty recognizing patterns of repetitive high and low sounds, and difficulty being able to hear more than one person speaking at the same time.

These symptoms may carry over into other areas of life, as the children struggle to cope with not being able to understand people speaking to them. For example, they may become easily distracted by sudden noises, have difficulty following directions, develop reading, spelling, and language difficulties, become disorganized and forgetful, or have trouble following conversations. When given standard hearing tests, these children appear to have normal hearing, so these symptoms are often confused with or mistaken for signs of other problems such as depression or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This misdiagnosis is further complicated by the fact that a child may in fact have ADHD or some other learning disorder and also have CAPD.

Properly detecting and diagnosing CAPD as eary in a child’s life as possible is crucial to avoid developmental delays both social and academic. Early diagnosis is key to ensuring that the condition is resolved, which is why it is important, if you have noticed any of the above symptoms in your children, to have their hearing professionally tested.

Filed Under: Anatomy and Physiology Tagged With: , , ,

How Do Bugs, Dolphins and Other Species Hear?

February 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Did you know that researchers have yet to find a vertebrate species on Earth that is deaf? That’s unlike a considerable variety of amphibians, fishes, reptiles and mammals that are sightless. However, hearing doesn’t specifically call for ears. Only vertebrates have ears, whereas invertebrates utilize other types of sense organs in order to perceive the vibrations we know as audio waves.

Insects have tiny tympanal organs that can provide them with far more acute hearing than humans; for example, the female cricket fly can pinpoint the exact location of the cricket it parasitizes just by hearing its song. Hair can also be used to detect sounds. In spiders, cockroaches and caterpillars, tiny hair cells play the role of ears. The spiders and cockroaches have the hairs on their legs, while the caterpillar has them along its body. Some animals have two ways of processing sound vibrations. For example, an elephant has extremely large ears, but it also takes in sound information via its feet. Elephant feet are sensitive to the very low frequency calls of other elephants and also the rumble of thunder many miles away.

Sound travels both faster and farther through water than it does through the air, and even though fish don’t have ears, they can effectively detect sounds using lateral lines that run horizontally on the sides of their bodies. A marine mammal, dolphins have no ears, but have eardrums on the outside of their bodies that give them the best sense of hearing among animals, over 14 times better than human hearing.

Not only do many animals have better quality hearing than humans, they can hear more sounds, detecting frequency ranges that are much higher and lower than the range that humans are capable of hearing. Cats are recognized as having the most acute hearing among domesticated animals. They can hear sounds at lower and higher frequencies than humans can. A normal human range is 64 to 23,000 HZ. A normal cat range is 45 to 64,000 HZ. Birds also have acute hearing, especially owls, whose hearing is not only far better than ours, but more precise in its ability to locate the source of the sound. An owl can pinpoint the exact location of a scurrying mouse in less than 0.01 seconds.

Some species, such as bats and dolphins, extend their hearing abilities by using a form of sonar called echolocation, in which they emit ultrasonic chirps or clicks, and then interpret the sound waves as they return from objects the waves strike. Echolocation is extremely precise. It only takes one chirp to determine an objects’ size and location. Dolphins can use echolocation to detect objects the size of a small coin over 70 meters away. And if you want a real display of hearing, bats can not only hear insects flying 30 feet away from them, they can then pursue and catch them in mid-air, all in total darkness.

Looking at the animal world is a great reminder of how vitally important hearing is.

Filed Under: Anatomy and Physiology Tagged With: , , , ,

What Exactly is the Fluid Wave and How Does it Affect My Hearing?

July 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Within the ear the cochlea is considered the most complex of all the components involved. Its primary function is to take all of the vibrations that are caused by sound waves and turn them into electrical information that the brain will interpret as a distinctive sound.

There are three connecting tubes that make up the structure of the cochlea, which are all separated by some of the most sensitive membranes. All of these tubes are coiled into shapes similar to that of a snail shell, but it is a lot easier to comprehend what is going on if you picture them all laid flat. It also becomes a lot clearer if you think of two of the tubes as one single chamber. The membranes that are between the tubes are extremely thin, so this way the sound waves are able to travel throughout the tubes as if they were all connected.

Your stapes are going to move side to side, which creates waves of pressure within the cochlea. The window that separates the cochlea from the middle ear provides the fluid with a place to go. As the stapes move inward, the window moves outward and vice versa.

The basilar membrane is the middle membrane. It has a rigid surface that covers the entire length of your cochlea. Whenever your stapes move inward and outward, they help to push and pull all of the parts of the membrane located just underneath the window. This movement creates a wave that moves along the length of the membrane. It is almost like a ripple travelling on a pond that moves the wave from the window and down to the cochlea.

There is a very strange structure that makes up the basilar membrane. In fact, there are between 20 and 30 thousand fibers that reach all the way across the cochlea width. They are very short and stiff, and they are located near the window. As you make your way along the tubes, you will notice the fibers tend to get a lot longer and more flexible.
This entire process works together to give the fibers varying frequencies. Specific frequencies help to resonate all of the fibers perfectly at a designated point, which causes them to vibrate extremely quickly. It is this principle that makes a kazoo and a turning fork work effectively. When you have a specific pitch in place the tuning fork will begin to ring and hum in such a manner that the reed within the kazoo will begin to vibrate.

While the waves are travelling across the membranes they are not able to release a lot of energy because they are too tense. However, once the waves reach the fibers with the identical frequency the energy is immediately released. Due to the increase in the length of the fibers and the decrease in how rigid they are, the higher frequency waves are able to vibrate the fibers that are in closer proximity to the window. The lower frequency waves are able to vibrate all of the fibers at the opposing end of the membrane.

It is not until one of the waves reach the fibers and sends out a frequency that the basilar membrane will move. Whenever the waves make their way to the resonating point the membranes will then release a large burst of energy within the area. That energy is potent enough to push the hair cells at that moment.

As the cells in the hair are moved, they are able to send any impulse into the nerve of the cochlea. That nerve works to send an impulse into the cerebral cortex, which is where the brain is able to interpret them. It is the responsibility of the brain to determine what the level of pitch is. It does this based upon a certain position of the cells that are sending the impulses. Louder sounds are going to send off more energy at the resonating point along the membrane, as well as move a larger amount of cells within the area. Your brain will know that the sound is louder because there will be an increase in the number of hair cells that are activated within a specified region.

Filed Under: Anatomy and Physiology Tagged With:

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