![]() ![]() harmonic energy in a specific frequency region, around the second format) along a continuum, changing perception categorically from one sound (Yanni) to another (Laurel) on the basis of the listener’s perception and experience. The fact that both sounds comprise phonemes that are marked by a continuing resonant sound makes it easier to create an auditory illusion by manipulating categorical perception by isolating a specific variable (e.g. Sonorants have more acoustic energy than other consonants. In English, vowels are sonorants, as are consonants like y, w, l, r, m, n, and ng. This week, an auditory illusion had many people asking the simple question of whether they heard “Laurel” or “Yanni”. Aside from the “water cooler” discussion, what are the linguistic and auditory principles behind the illusion?įirst of all, from a phonetics standpoint, Yanni and Laurel comprise all sonorant sounds. In phonetics and phonology, a sonorant or resonant is a speech sound that is produced with continuous, non-turbulent airflow in the vocal tract these are the manners of articulation that are most often voiced in the world’s languages. ![]() It takes more than just a hearing device to hear better.Several years ago, the Internet went crazy over the color of a dress due to a visual illusion. Once the best devices for your specific hearing profile have been selected, programmed, and fitted, it is important to practice listening - especially in background noise - to help achieve the best possible hearing. This is because the brain is now familiar with the voice.Īudiologists are able to assist people with hearing loss in selecting the appropriate hearing devices that will work best with their brain, as well as outlining the best way to retrain your brain to listen and understand sound. However, if you listen to the “clean version” and then again to the noisy version, it is easier to hear and understand the speech through the static. If you first listen to the “noisy version,” it is almost impossible to discern any words. This sound sample provides a great illustration of the brain’s ability to filter and understand speech. Hearing in background noise is one of the most challenging listening situations for a listener, even one with normal hearing. Familiarity with sound is an important part of understanding what your brain is hearing. Hearing devices are the first step in treatment of a hearing loss, but it is also vital that the brain be trained to process sound again. Since every brain is different, two people with the exact same hearing loss, hearing devices, and device programming will still hear differently. To treat hearing loss, we use devices like hearing aids to amplify the sound, but it still has to travel through our hearing system to our brain. This processing equates to our hearing and, thus, our perception of the world around us. ![]() It is important to understand that we hear with our ears but understand and process sound with our brain. This morning, we played the audio sample in a meeting in our office and three people heard “laurel,” whereas two people heard “yanny.” How is it that people are hearing different words from the same audio source? The short answer is: their brains are different! Recently, an audio clip has been circulating on social media, asking people to listen to a recording and vote to indicate if they heard either “laurel” or “yanny”. ![]()
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