Hearing is complex, requiring a series of actions and reactions to work. The process involves many parts of the ear working together to convert sound waves into information the brain understands and interprets as sounds.

  1. Sound waves enter the ear canal and travel toward our eardrums.
  2. These sound waves cause the eardrum and bones in the middle ear to vibrate.
  3. Tiny hair cells inside cochlea (inner ear) convert these vibrations into electric impulses/signals that are picked up by the auditory nerve.
  4. The ear has over 25,000 tiny hair cells to hear varying degrees of sound.
  5. Signals sent to the brain from auditory nerve are then interpreted as sounds.