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In many people with hyperacusis, an increased activity develops in the tensor tympani muscle in the middle ear as part of the startle response to some sounds. This lowered reflex threshold for tensor tympani contraction is activated by the perception/anticipation of loud sound, and is called tonic tensor tympani syndrome (TTTS). In some people ...
The acoustic reflex (also known as the stapedius reflex, [1] stapedial reflex, [2] auditory reflex, [3] middle-ear-muscle reflex (MEM reflex, MEMR), [4] attenuation reflex, [5] cochleostapedial reflex [6] or intra-aural reflex [6]) is an involuntary muscle contraction that occurs in the middle ear in response to loud sound stimuli or when the person starts to vocalize.
An audiogram shows the softest sounds (volume: soft to loud) you hear at each frequency (low to high pitches). The lower the line on the graph, the worse your hearing is at that frequency.
Although the ear is the primary organ for sensing low sound, at higher intensities it is possible to feel infrasound vibrations in various parts of the body. The study of such sound waves is sometimes referred to as infrasonics , covering sounds beneath 20 Hz down to 0.1 Hz (and rarely to 0.001 Hz).
While low-magnitude sounds cannot be heard in the affected ear(s), the perceived loudness increases over-proportionally with sound volume once the auditory threshold has been overcome. This can result in a (seemingly paradoxical) reduced tolerance to loudness, as loud sounds may be perceived louder than normal.
The auditory filter of an impaired ear is flatter and broader compared to a normal ear. This is because the frequency selectivity and the tuning of the basilar membrane is reduced as the outer hair cells are damaged. When only the outer hair cells are damaged the filter is broader on the low frequency side.
The traveling wave along the basilar membrane peaks at different places along it, depending on whether the sound is low or high frequency. Due to the mass and stiffness of the basilar membrane, low frequency waves peak in the apex, while high frequency sounds peak in the basal end of the cochlea. [13]
The inner ear (internal ear, auris interna) is the innermost part of the vertebrate ear. In vertebrates , the inner ear is mainly responsible for sound detection and balance. [ 1 ] In mammals , it consists of the bony labyrinth , a hollow cavity in the temporal bone of the skull with a system of passages comprising two main functional parts: [ 2 ]