Re: painfully loud sound

["Didier Depireux, PhD" <ddepi001@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 11/9/04 7:56 PM, "jan schnupp" <jan.schnupp@PHYSIOL.OX.AC.UK> wrote:

> nociceptive pathways and pain) I wondered: what determines whether we
> would consider a particular sound to be painfully loud?

I don't remember what it feels like to feel a "painfully loud" sound
(whether it is felt inside the head, or just in the ear in general), but
wouldn't the tympanic membrane itself be a good candidate for the pain
sensation? The tympanum is innervated by four of the cranial nerves,
providing general sensation through trigeminal, facial and vagal cranial
nerves on the outside surface and glossopharyngeal nerve for the inside
surface.
I guess this might be partially answered if I knew whether people who lose
their hair cells still perceive loud sounds as being painful right after
hair cell loss, even though they might not perceive the sound as being that
loud?

                                    Didier

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