A hidden electrical process in the inner ear allows

Humans can hear supposedly inaudible low-frequency sounds thanks to a unique electrical mechanism in the inner ear. A new study explains how this hidden process makes environmental noises like wind turbines and machinery feel so intensely loud.

Humans perceive very low-frequency sounds through a unique electrical mechanism in the inner ear, rather than the mechanical process used for normal hearing. This discovery provides evidence explaining why certain environmental noises, like the hum of a ventilation system, can feel physically intense and grow rapidly in loudness. The findings were recently published in the

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journal Scientific Reports . Carlos Jurado of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and Torsten Marquardt of University College London led the research to understand how the human body detects infrasound. Infrasound refers to sound waves with a frequency below 16 hertz. The term hertz measures how many times a sound wave vibrates per second. Human hearing is conventionally thought to stop around 20 hertz, meaning sounds below this threshold are often considered inaudible. Despite this assumption, people can actually perceive these very low frequencies if the volume is loud enough. Hearing normally relies on a tiny, snail-shaped structure in the inner ear called the cochlea. Inside the cochlea, specialized fluid moves in response to incoming sound waves. This fluid movement pushes against microscopic sensory receptors known as hair cells. The cochlea consists of...

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