I can remember clearly words, speeches, etc… And when I think of them I can see the people, hear them speak, feel the passion and emotions in their voice. If they had an acccent or were crying, I can hear it.
But how do you hear a memory? If nothing is hitting my ear drum, how am I able to still hear them? How does my brain store a soundwave, or, a memory of a soundwave? How does it play it back?
I tried to check about, but couldn’t find any research on this. Anyone?
This question applies to all memories, not just auditory. If no photons are hitting your retina how are you able to remember people’s faces? If no molecules are hitting my nose how are you able to remember smells?
I don’t know the mechanism by which memories are stored, and I’m not sure if scientists know either. But heaing doesn’t happen in the ear, it happens in the brain; the ear just provides the stimulus. So it’s not hard to understand how the brain could store something in a way similar to how it receives it. However, regardless of the vividness of memories, I’m sure you have never confused remembering a sound with the actual hearing of a sound.