If you're 100% deaf in one ear...

banja · 22 Jan 2012 at 14:34

Are you unable to determine if a sound is coming from behind or ahead? Just purely from the sound - no visual clues.

Your ear hears a sound and on it's own there's no way your ear knows where it has come from. The brain interprets position thanks to your two ears receiving the sounds at different times etc.

This leads me to wonder how we determine sounds from above and below - as we don't have ears at different heights to interpret the varaiances on that plane.

Rroff · 22 Jan 2012 at 14:35

Dunno but my dad is deaf in one ear and never seems to have any problems with locating sounds.

TheCenturion · 22 Jan 2012 at 14:36

Yes. Being deaf in one ear changes the direction that you perceive sound from.

To test this, stick a finger in one of your ears, and try seeing if you can locate where sounds are coming from.

The way we determine whether something is coming from behind, in front, above or below is surely simple deduction, and use of the other senses as well.

Castiel · 22 Jan 2012 at 14:38

Pardon?

Hyburnate · 22 Jan 2012 at 14:40

Castiel said:
Pardon?

We have a comedian in the audience. I'd hate being deaf ;[

Tummy · 22 Jan 2012 at 14:41

I went deaf in one ear a while back and would get confused when trying to figure out where sounds were coming from

twist3d0n3 · 22 Jan 2012 at 14:42

http://ambisonic.info/howto/psychoacoustics.html

this should explain it pretty well.

it's a combination of tonal, time and amplitude differences between the ears that allows us to locate sound sources.

banja · 22 Jan 2012 at 14:43

TheCenturion said:
Yes. Being deaf in one ear changes the direction that you perceive sound from.

To test this, stick a finger in one of your ears, and try seeing if you can locate where sounds are coming from.

The way we determine whether something is coming from behind, in front, above or below is surely simple deduction, and use of the other senses as well.

Blocking your ear is not a good way to test, as sounds still pass through your skull. I believe the skull attenuates up to 40db. That's why I asked if you were 100% deaf in one of your ears.

mattyfez · 22 Jan 2012 at 14:43

Im pretty sure the brain/ear would compensate fairly reasonably...

People with 2 ears cant quite pinpoint the direction of a brief noise, that's why snipers leave time between shots, the brain can't quite make out the direction from a single noise.

Same reason that forklift drivers beep twice insted of once when going through shutters/round corners.. the second noise helps the brain 'triangulate' the position of the source.

orderoftheflame · 22 Jan 2012 at 14:43

Yes. Your directional hearing comes from hearing the same sound at different volumes and out of phase in different ears. It's how tech like Dolby Headphone emulates surround sound with only two drivers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_localization

Morgoth · 22 Jan 2012 at 14:45

TheCenturion said:
To test this, stick a finger in one of your ears, and try seeing if you can locate where sounds are coming from.

I think that given sufficient time to acclimatise to the deafness in one ear your ability to perceive the location of sounds would increase.

SexyGreyFox · 22 Jan 2012 at 14:52

I'm nearly deaf in my right ear and I have major problems locating where a sound comes from.
One woman in my office refused to tell me which phones were ringing and instead preferred to get angry with me (we have to pick other peoples calls up if they aren't in).
Eventually the Manager (who had heard her time & time again) had enough of her attitude towards my 'disability' and had her in the office for a telling off.

So the answer is 100% yes.

Tummy · 22 Jan 2012 at 14:54

Can't you get an aid for that ear?

banja · 22 Jan 2012 at 14:55

As I say, I can understand how our ears determine position from left or right, but if a sound is directly above or below us, how do the ears determine that?

mattyfez · 22 Jan 2012 at 15:00

banja said:
As I say, I can understand how our ears determine position from left or right, but if a sound is directly above or below us, how do the ears determine that?

The brain pretty much fills in the gaps based on sensory input and previous experience.

banja · 22 Jan 2012 at 15:03

mattyfez said:
The brain pretty much fills in the gaps based on sensory input and previous experience.

Looking for a slighly more detailed explanation

SexyGreyFox · 22 Jan 2012 at 15:14

Tummy said:
Can't you get an aid for that ear?

I bought one of these the other week ( http://www.ampliear.co.uk/index.php?pac=PERI26JAN12 )and to get any decent volume it of it, it began squealing (feedback).
Mrs Dimple keeps telling me go to the Doctors to get it sorted properly.

This is how much my hearing in the right ear has deteriorated in 2 years -

fluffmct · 22 Jan 2012 at 15:20

I'm pretty much deaf in one ear as of about this time last year and I struggle to hear where sounds come from. Also, if someone talks to me from the right and I don't see them then I'll probably not hear them at all

.

I always stick only one earphone in during work, cause the muffled sound of my right ear ruins the sound. It looks like I'm not wearing earphones from the right so people come up and chat away to me and I just completely ignore them without realising

The guy on my right thought I was a right ignorant barsteward until I explained it to him one day

Tummy · 22 Jan 2012 at 15:34

Maybe you should listen to your wife then Pool! Get it sorted out, you might even enjoy music more being able to hear it in both ears

Morgoth · 22 Jan 2012 at 15:36

Dimple said:
I'm nearly deaf in my right ear and I have major problems locating where a sound comes from.
One woman in my office refused to tell me which phones were ringing and instead preferred to get angry with me (we have to pick other peoples calls up if they aren't in).
Eventually the Manager (who had heard her time & time again) had enough of her attitude towards my 'disability' and had her in the office for a telling off.

So the answer is 100% yes.

How good is the hearing in your other ear?