In politics, a session of a legislative committee at which witnesses present testimony on bills under consideration.
The ability to hear, or the function performed by the ear of sensing sounds and sending sound impulses to the brain.
Sense of receiving and interpreting sounds. Sound waves enter the outer ear, cause vibrations of the eardrum (tympanic membrane) and bones of the middle ear, and are transmitted to the inner ear, from which they are transmitted along the auditory nerve to the brain for interpretation.
The ability to perceive and identify sound. All sources of sound send vibrations or sound waves through the air. These sound waves are funneled into the outer ear opening and travel through the ear canal to the eardrum, causing this thin membrane to vibrate. These vibrations are passed through small bones in the middle ear to fluid in the inner ear. The vibrating movement of the fluid stimulates hair-like projections called hair cells to transform the sound wave vibrations into electrical nerve impulses and sends them to the hearing nerve in the inner ear. This nerve transmits the impulses to the brain. In the brain’s hearing centers, the nerve impulses are identified and interpreted as individual sounds that are understandable to the person listening to them. Hearing is supplemented by vibrations conducted through the bones of the skull into the inner ear. A person hears his or her own voice via these vibrations within the skull.
The sense or perception of sound. The normal human ear can detect sounds with frequencies ranging from about 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz but is most sensitive to sounds in the 1500-Hz to 3000-Hz frequency range, which is the range most often used in speech. Hearing deficits occur when sound waves are not conducted properly to the cochlea, when lesions interrupt the workings of the cochlear nerve, or when central nervous system pathways involved in the processing of auditory stimuli are injured.
Hearing is the sensory capability that allows us to perceive sounds. The ear accomplishes this by converting incoming sound waves into nerve impulses, which are then transmitted to the brain for interpretation.
Every ear is divided into three unique sections: the outer, middle, and inner ear. Sound waves travel through the ear canal into the middle ear, where a sophisticated arrangement of membranes and small bones transmits the vibrations to the inner ear. These vibrations are then transformed into nerve impulses within the cochlea. These impulses journey along the auditory nerve towards the medulla of the brain. They subsequently pass through the thalamus to reach the superior temporal gyrus, a component of the cerebral cortex that processes sound perception. More information can be found by further investigation.