Each brain hemisphere has specific things that it processes and controls. When sound comes in from only one ear, do the specific functions of that hemisphere which accepts the sound affect how you understand the sound? Would one side process the sound more artistically while the other would do so more logically (for example)?
Most of my meetings at work are with remote team members and are done over phone conferences. My headset only has one speaker and can be arranged so that it goes over either the left or right ear. I usually have it over my right ear. I was wondering if my ear choice could be optimized depending on the content of the meeting. For example, maybe I should listen with one ear for highly analytical discussions but then the other ear for more creative discussions. Or does it not matter at all?
An article on the subject. I think there are two different issues, ear dominance, similar to handedness, and the different processing by the two sides of the brain.
Always the right ear. The important part is to first understand the speech you’re hearing - analyzing is downstream from there.
I had an injury which forces me to use my left ear when using the phone and simply understanding what people are saying is much more difficult than it used to be.
Two important points to bring over from that thread:
Abraca Debora mentioned neural plasticity–the “learning” that takes place when synaptic connections in the brain (“new” neurons, I don’t know) when a sense organ is stimulated. I had always thought that was a brain-age-limited thing–Eg, if your visual cortex isn’t getting signals before 8-9 years old, even fully functional receptors (eyes) won’t do squat.
I mention this because LSLGuy mentioned here–and goes into more detail in the older thread1-that he was taught/trained as an adult to learn cognitive methods to adapt to the one-ear dominance. (Abraca Debora, an audiologist, said that in the biz they call that “the right ear advantage.”)
On 12/30/2007, 10:58 AM, LSLGuy wrote the following:
…I used to be an airline pilot; flew Boeings for 15+ years.
As I’ve alluded to in various threads, I’ve been in and out of the airline industry over the years. For many people it does not turn out to be a stable lifetime job at one company due to bankruptcies, mergers, take-overs, etc. Not to mention the risk of medical disqualification, although I personally haven’t had to deal with that particular curveball. Yet.
At the time I wrote that in 2007 I had been out of flying for a couple years and expected to remain out. As I write this today I’m back in and expect to remain in. We shall see what the future holds.
Part of the reason I can discourse on other topics as well as flying is the time I’ve spent in totally different careers. It gives a wider perspective than one would have after 30 years of boring holes in the sky.
I had very good hearing when young (as I suppose most people do) but it went downhill drastically once I got into my 30s. I was fitted with hearing aids at age 36 and should have had them one or two years earlier.
A lingering aftereffect of my hearing loss is that I sometimes hear someone say all the sounds that make words but fail to process them into something that has meaning. After reading this thread, I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that my hearing in one ear is much better than the other.
