How Do We Hear?

Hearing is a magical kind of sense. Unlike sight that requires us to open our eyes and look around, or the sense of touch which relies on physical contact, hearing just “happens.” But how?

It may look unusual, but your ear is a highly specialized piece of equipment on your body. Your cupped outer ear catches sounds waves and directs them into a series of complex sensors. As the sound waves travel through your ear canal, they make your eardrum and tiny bones vibrate. Nerves in your inner ear pick up on these vibrations and turn them into electrical impulses to your brain. Your brain can then identify these sounds as speech, music, noise, and more.