loud sounds

[Amanda Lauer <alauer@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

People with hair cell loss sometimes have LOWER loudness discomfort
levels than normal (hyperacusis).  Even in those who don't have
hyperacusis, high level sounds are usually perceived to be of "normal"
loudness.

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Date:    Thu, 11 Nov 2004 18:38:16 -0500
From:    "Didier Depireux, PhD" <ddepi001@UMARYLAND.EDU>
Subject: Re: painfully loud sound


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

__
Didier A Depireux      ddepi001@umaryland.edu   didier@isr.umd.edu
20 Penn Str - S218E http://neurobiology.umaryland.edu/depireux.htm
Anatomy and Neurobiology                 Phone: 410-706-1272 (lab)
University of Maryland                                 -1273 (off)
Baltimore MD 21201 USA                         Fax: 1-410-706-2512

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End of AUDITORY Digest - 10 Nov 2004 to 11 Nov 2004 (#2004-237)
***************************************************************

Amanda Lauer
Dept. of Psychology
Center for the Comparative &
Evolutionary Biology of Hearing
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20783
301-405-5940