3BHow Your Hearing Works 33 of sound. The eardrum is the beginning of the interpretation of sound waves into information for the brain to process.
In situations where there are competing levels of sound, the eardrum will help you to focus and concentrate your hearing on higher pitched sounds, and essentially drown out the louder and lower pitched sounds. This would come into play if you are on the playground with your kids and you are trying to carry on a conversation with your friend. Your eardrum helps you zero in on what your friend is saying and relegate the playground noise to the background. When auditory conditions are less than optimal, the eardrum will actually protect you from loud and harmful noises. A very loud low pitched sound will cause the tympanic muscle to contract sharply and not vibrate in its normal way, thus lessening the amount of sound that will travel to the brain.
The Ossicles
So far, sound waves have traveled through the air. First, a sound was collected by the pinnae and pushed into the ear canal; second, the eardrum reacted to that sound by vibrating according to the pitch and volume. The next section of the middle ear will do the work of amplifying that sound so that when it reaches the fluid of the inner ear, it can stand up to the increased inertia that awaits it. The Ossicles are a series of bones that react in conjunction with the vibrations created by the eardrum. If you can imagine a set of dominoes- with each one
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