In order for a person to hear sound properly, the brain must play its part. Though you might not realize it, the brain has an essential role in your hearing. Impulses sent through your ear are translated by the brain into sounds that you can understand. In fact, there are a variety of issues that can arise if the connection between the brain and your ears becomes faulty. Understanding the role the brain has on hearing can prove hugely beneficial in protecting your hearing.
The Role the Brain Has on Hearing
The brain is just as important as your ears are for hearing and processing sound. While the impulses and sound waves initially travel through your ears, it’s the brain that provides you with the means of understanding what these sounds are. Without the brain to interact with these impulses, a person wouldn’t be able to discern between volume levels or which sounds are situated in the foreground and which are in the background. There are also several hearing conditions, such as tinnitus, that originate in the brain.
At the very moment that sound waves hit your ear, they begin a journey. This journey starts in the outer ear before passing through both the middle ear and inner ear. The vibrations created with these sound waves basically stimulate a myriad of very small hair cells. These cells are located within the inner ear, and transmit electronic signals to what is known as the auditory nerve. This specific nerve is housed within the auditory center of the brain. This is the location where all of the sound waves you hear are translated into perceptible sound.
It is also in this portion of the brain where all of these sounds are filtered. All unnecessary sounds, such as background noise, are filtered out. This provides you with the ability to focus on what you truly want to hear, such as a person speaking to you or songs that you’re listening to. This filter system resides in the left side of the brain. The brain also boosts the volume of your own speech. It’s through this that you can effortlessly change, and understand, the pitch of your voice.
Hearing Issues Caused By the Brain
Because the brain is directly connected to your hearing, a number of hearing problems can be caused when certain areas of the brain stop working as they should. For one, hearing loss in one ear can be a signal that a tumor is present within the brain. However, this is a very rare occurrence. Some of the more common hearing issues caused by the brain include tinnitus and acoustic neuroma. Because these problems originate in the brain, they can be difficult to properly treat.
While not a lot is fully known about tinnitus and what causes it, a research team was able to deduce that tinnitus isn’t directly caused by the ear, but instead due to neurons firing within the brain. More research has been able to eliminate tinnitus in rats through sound therapy that basically resets the portion of the brain that interprets sound. Through this method, the ringing heard with tinnitus actually dissipated entirely, which proves that the brain is the primary cause for the condition.
As for acoustic neuroma, symptoms include ringing, dizziness and basic hearing loss. This is an inner ear tumor that occurs around the hearing and balance nerves. As it grows, it eventually makes its way towards the brain. This can create further hearing loss and damages to sections of the brain. This condition is treatable, which will restore any lost hearing. These are just a couple of the hearing conditions where the brain plays a large role. With each passing year, more is known about the connection of the brain to hearing, which helps with the development of treatment options for these issues.
Sensory Association With the Brain and Hearing
In total, there are six sensory organs that receive stimulation from aspects of the environment. Two of these are located within the inner ear. The important one of these is the cochlea, which governs sound and hearing. The stimulus is captured by the cochlea and sent directly to the brain. The other five sensory organs include the vestibule, surface of the skin, eyes, nose and mouth. Each of these organs work in a very similar way as one another. The brain is integral to being able to discern any portion of the sounds you hear.
To understand the sensory association with the brain and hearing, let’s take a look at an example of this connection. Ears that aren’t connected to a brain are similar to a microphone that’s not working properly, where all sounds are diluted and muffled. Without ears, the brain wouldn’t receive any sound waves to interpret. Overall, hearing would be made impossible without the sensors and components in the brain that allow for more subtle understanding of the sound waves that are passed through the ear. This should help you fully appreciate how important your hearing is.