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I think synaesthesia is the wrong interpretation of this phenomenon. I hear flashes like that as a soft rush of blood around my eardrum. I'm pretty sure it's j
by gilgoomesh 10y ago
I think synaesthesia is the wrong interpretation of this phenomenon.
I hear flashes like that as a soft rush of blood around my eardrum. I'm pretty sure it's just the "acoustic reflex" (the muscles in my middle ear tightening in case there's a loud sound incoming). Obviously there isn't a loud noise here but like an involuntary blink, my body doesn't know that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_reflex https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_reflex
- belzebub 10y agoNow I know the name of this phenomenon. This happens to my ears between songs when I'm wearing headphones.
- lnx01 10y agoI don't know - that might be your ears ringing because the volume was too loud? Kind of like the ringing in your ears after you've been at a loud live music event?
- martin-adams 10y agoYes, I experience that when stopping a loudish song when wearing headphones. Who would have thought that sudden silence would cause an uncomfortable reaction.
- Houshalter 10y agoIt's not blood but the vibrations of the tensor tympani muscle. I learned to control it voluntarily and can make my ears rumble whenever I want. It's a pretty useless talent. Many people hear it when yawning. There was an HN post a few weeks ago about Mercedes putting something in their car that activate the reflex just before an accident. To protect against hearing loss from the loud crash of an accident.
- funkdified 10y agoFrom Wikipedia: "in humans, the acoustic reflex only involves the contraction of the stapedius muscle -not the tensor tympani."
- krisroadruck 10y agowtf. After reading this comment my ears started to rumble. So that's weird.
- stordoff 10y ago> I learned to control it voluntarily and can make my ears rumble whenever I want. I always assumed everyone could do that - I've been able to do it for as long as I can remember, and can (to a minor extent) vary the intensity between ears.
- alex_hitchins 10y agoCompletely the same for me, never questioned if this was some hidden talent. I often get the same experience when say on a train on a summers day. It's like an on/off switch, rumbles in the light, quiet in the shade.
- maaaats 10y agoIf it's the same thing I can do, it's very useful. I can "pop" my ears voluntarily, which is nice when freediving.
- steve-howard 10y agoI can pop my ears by plugging my nose and making a "k" or "g" sound. Comes in handy since my Eustachian tubes are essentially useless.
- test1235 10y ago... and when flying! (normally, I mean) Just thinking about it now ... I kinda pull my jaw back a bit and push my tongue against the back of my throat, like the first half second of a swallowing action. It's enough to make a little 'click' in my hearing, even when I've not changed altitude.
- noja 10y ago> I learned to control it voluntarily How did you learn this?
- sametmax 10y agoPinch your nostrils, and blow through your nose gently. The blocked air will build pressure in your ear and you will trigger the mechanism. Do it slowly, but at one point, you'll need to force a little to trigger it. Then the ear will go back to it's original state. Do it several times. At one point you won't be able to do it anymore. The ear will stay like that for some time. Rest a bit. Then practice again. Once you got it, force yourself to yawn, and try to reproduce the effect while yawning. The once you can do that, try to do it without yawning. In the end, it's not a useless skill. It's very useful when you take the plane a lot, go skying in hight altitude or dive in deep water. It let you release the pressure from your ears at will. We should teach it to all children. You often see them crying in planes because their ears hurting while the pressure changes. If you encounter that, ask them to do the first exercise (blow with the nostrils blocked). If they can't (sometime it's too late, the pressure is too high and that would hurt), make them chew something.
- avh02 10y agolol I do something like this with a beat... it makes for wicked bass when mentally/internally running a tune.
- martin-adams 10y agoNot the same as the rumbling sound, but doing some sort of opening in the ear internally does give some wicked bass. I do that when in the shower as opposed to singing.
- funkdified 10y agoDoctor of audiology here. I think you are mistaken. The acoustic reflex cannot be triggered in this way. The reflex is triggered only after being exposed to a very loud sound.
- dTal 10y agoHow do you know?
- BWStearns 10y ago"Doctor of audiology"?
- cshimmin 10y agoI am loling, but I think perhaps parent meant to ask "how is it known [... to doctors of audiology]". I.e. how did people determine thay fact. Or maybe he was just being a smartass.
- dTal 10y agoOn being a smartass - did you just assume my gender? </straightface>
- dTal 10y agoIs precisely the person I would hope can explain. Especially given the confidence placed into the negative assertion.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- joeyo 10y agoI could imagine a visual form of it being a conditioned reflex. The stapedius reflex is also triggered by vocalization, so clearly some level of top-down modulation is possible.
- 10y ago