Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with auditory

For NPR, This is Daniel Schorr ... AGGGGH! leaps for dial

WCityMike — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:59:02 -0800

Whenever I listen to National Public Radio, I occasionally come across a news segment or op-ed by Daniel Schorr (he can be listened to here, and here's his Wikipedia article). I don't understand why, but his voice drives me up one wall and down the other. Why? The man has a voice for newspaper — so much so that I literally leap for the off switch or 'Next' button — and I'm not usually sensitive to such things. It's not him being an elderly man — it's something unique to his voice in particular that drives me nuts, but I can't quite figure out what quality it is. I know I'm not alone, though, as I've seen other comments on his voice. Anyone know what quality his voice has that drives so many (and me) nuts? And did it derive from something in his past development (i.e., stroke, etc.) or is it just a natural quality?

(And I'm definitely not belittling the man's achievements – which are many and impressive. Just trying to figure out what the auditory quality of his voice is that drives me up the wall – much as scientists have tried to figure out the auditory reasons behind the fingernails on chalkboard thing.)

Voices inside my head/Echoes of things that you said. Repeat.

TheSecretDecoderRing — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 23:40:10 -0800

When it's really quiet as I try to fall asleep, I'll sometimes hear faint sounds that seem to have been things I'd heard earlier in the day, with what's almost like a residual effect. It mostly seems comprised of co-workers talking, TV/radio broadcasts, and the vocal parts of songs (which doesn't include "Helter Skelter"). It's almost like hearing one's own "inner voice" (at least, I'm assuming), but more faint and on auto pilot. Is this a fairly common occurrence, and what's the cause of it? I've often been tempted to remember certain things I "hear" to look up later, such as various facts or song lyrics that my conscious mind doesn't know, but naturally I forget by the time I get a chance to.

So are these sounds mostly my own mind coming up with these sounds, or are they actually things it might've subconsciously picked up amidst background noise throughout the day, and later plays back almost like an echo?

I'm experiencing auditory hallucinations when waking.

iam2bz2p — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:29:55 -0800

I'm experiencing auditory hallucinations when waking. What the phuck? This morning, I was deeply asleep (about 7AM) and I clearly heard the pronounced sound of a doorbell (ding-dong) which startled me awake. It sound seemed to be VERY close to me, next to my bed on my left-side. Now, I don't have a doorbell and my cell phone (which doesn't have this tone) was downstairs.

A few weeks ago, I woke to the very clear sounds of applause.

Is this normal or something to be concerned about?

THANKS!

How to work with someone who may have an auditory processing disorder?

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 00:31:26 -0800

I work with someone who I believe has an auditory processing disorder. Help me figure out how to work more efficiently and effectively with her. (Anonymous because my username and workplace are connected, and I want to protect my coworker's privacy.)

My colleague works in a crucial capacity on our team; for as long as I've worked with her (5+ years) she has created a pattern of problems through more or less ongoing communication breakdowns. This has been noticed by virtually everyone who's worked with her for any length of time (supervisors, peers, and subordinates alike): she seemingly lacks the ability to communicate effectively, follow instructions, understand multi-step tasks (and the cause and effect of each step), and organize large amounts of information; all of this is coupled with a marked tendency to be very literal, highly sensitive, and an inclination for secrecy (which I've only recently realized is to cover up the work she says she's done, but often hasn't -- until the last minute, which inevitably creates a crisis, at which point we all pitch in to get the job done).

It suddenly hit me today that some of this was strikingly similar to a child in my family who has been diagnosed with dyslexia and an auditory processing disorder. In googling it a little, I found this description of the disorder; the integration and prosodic subtypes fit her to a T.

No one is interested in getting her fired or demoted (including her supervisors); she is a dear, lovely woman on a personal level and highly committed, hardworking, and knowledgeable within her specialty on a professional level. But it has reached the point where entire projects are breaking down (we're now having to hire freelancers to take on part of her workload in order to meet our deadlines), and all of us on the team are pretty much at our wits' end. How can we work with her more effectively and efficiently? Obviously, it seems that giving her written instructions is better than verbal; are there other things to be considered? Almost everything I've seen online so far has been along the lines of "how to help your child in school," which obviously isn't relevant under the circumstances.

I'm bleeding from my hands. So why can't I hear?

eritain — Sat, 12 May 2007 07:08:58 -0800

Hypotension/hypovolemia as a low-pass filter: I got cut, I went into shock, and then everything started sounding funny. I'd guess it was a 40 dB (±10) rolloff, which began near 200 Hz (±50) and left me with nothing above 1kHz. How in the world? Story, discussion of numeric estimates, off-the-cuff physiological speculations, etc... About a week ago I had a gentlemanly disagreement with a pane of glass, which left venous blood running richly from two of my knuckles. (No winner was declared, but you should see the other guy. I totally took him.) At the first-aid station, I dropped into a typical case of shock: pallor, weakness, sweating, and thirst. I knew what it was, so I got my head between my knees and asked a bystander for water to sip. I was still feeling awful when someone got a car to drive me and my now-bandaged hands to the emergency room (where those hands would get six stitches and some iodine).

As I walked some 15 or 20 feet to the car, I experienced an unfamiliar symptom: My hearing drained out. First the high end, then the mids went very quiet. A waterfall fountain became inaudible; male voices had a very flat timbre. I could hear the bass rumble of the car engine very clearly, but not its rattling-type noises, or much road hiss/tire noise.

Note that I am pretty bad at estimating loudness, but it was a profound loss. Frequency, I'm a little better with. I understood people speaking, so I must have had some hearing up to 1000 Hz (to make out the first two vowel formants). But 700 Hz is a good estimate for the top of the road hiss that I wasn't hearing, and the loudest sounds were definitely 100-160 Hz or so.

Qualitatively, here is how much shock I was in: My vision was washed out, but not tunneled. My lips, I'm told, were colorless. I did walk 20 feet, but I'm sure I couldn't have gone 40. I had the presence of mind to keep my knees slightly bent in case I went down, and to be irritated at the people who thought that holding my elbow was really gonna help if I fainted. (Arms go limp, yo?) I did not have the presence of mind to say, 'Hold me at the shoulder, not the elbow,' or better yet, 'Wait, give me a minute here, I can't walk yet.' In the car, with a few minutes' rest and some water sipped, the normal shock symptoms receded, and the hearing loss with them.

So: What was that? Has this happened to other people? Can you propose a mechanism? (Could shock drain fluid from your cochlea, or do some fibers of the auditory nerve have a better blood supply than others, or would it more likely be the auditory cortex going under?) I welcome hypotheses, but I'm not about to go gouge myself again to test them. (Hmm, guineapigs.metafilter.com is still available.)

Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with auditory

For NPR, This is Daniel Schorr ... AGGGGH! *leaps for dial*

Voices inside my head/Echoes of things that you said. Repeat.

I'm experiencing auditory hallucinations when waking.

How to work with someone who may have an auditory processing disorder?

I'm bleeding from my hands. So why can't I hear?

For NPR, This is Daniel Schorr ... AGGGGH! leaps for dial