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Can They Hear Me Now Research Paper

Satisfactory Essays

John Newman

PHYS: Science of Music

Sr. Kathy Duffy, SSJ

30 April 2015 Can They Hear Me Now?

I have listened to myself on video or a voice recording and thought it didn’t sound

anything like me. I have also misheard something someone said. I do these things all the time.

Why do these things happen? What is the process of how which we hear? It has to do with the

different parts of the ear. They are the outer ear, middle ear, and inner ear. Each part has a very

important role in the way we hear things. However, our perception of the world around us is

strongly shaped by our expectations. Expectations alter the auditory cortex of your brain and can

change the messages the ear has sent. The outer ear contains the pinna, …show more content…

It is pushed inward and outward by the pressure

waves in the ear.

The three middle ear bones (stirrups,hammer, and anvil) are connected to the eardrum

and consequently vibrated when the eardrum oscillates. These bones are called ossicles. All the

energy from the vibrations is centered in other smaller areas of the bones. Once a sound is

produced it stays near the start of the inner ear which is called the cochlea. Inside the inner ear

there is hairs that have nerve cells. Each nerve has a frequency that resonates. It strikes the

cochlear faceplate that sends waves through the cochlea. If the frequency matches

any of the frequencies of the hair cells in the cochlea, those hair cells will vibrate and resonate

with a higher amplitude. This process excites nerve cell so they get rid of electrical impulses to

the brain for processing. That how the ear works but what about things we hear? When people speak sound travels

through their vocal chords and other parts directed to the cochlea. Your head enhances it to have

a much deeper sound and have a much lower frequency than what you are used to hearing. When

you listen to yourself on recording, the bone conducted pathway that is your “normal” voice

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