• Question: Why do we hear ourselves differently to how others hear us?

    Asked by Sam to Amy, Craig, Laura, Partha, Saffron on 16 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Laura Wales

      Laura Wales answered on 16 Jun 2015:

      External sound waves travel through the ear canal, hit the ear drum, which starts vibrating, and those vibrations travel to the inner ear. The vibrations are then converted into signals that can be sent via the auditory nerve to the brain to identify what the sound is.

      When we talk, some vibrations from the vocal cords reach the throat and mouth, and some are from the bones in the neck/head. As with external sounds, these internal vibrations reach the brain to identify the sound.

      So, when we speak the inner ear is stimulated by internal and external vibrations. When you listen to a recording of ourselves, the inner ear is only stimulated by external vibrations.

      I don’t know if I’ve explained that very well :/

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