# When using a one-ear phone headset, does ear choice affect comprehension? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 14, 2015, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-using-a-one-ear-phone-headset-does-ear-choice-affect-comprehension/734644 "2015-10-14T16:46:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-using-a-one-ear-phone-headset-does-ear-choice-affect-comprehension/734644/1 "2015-10-14T16:46:11Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-using-a-one-ear-phone-headset-does-ear-choice-affect-comprehension/734644/2 "2015-10-14T16:56:31Z")
[An article on the subject](http://www.livescience.com/9679-people-prefer-ear-listening.html). I think there are two different issues, ear dominance, similar to handedness, and the different processing by the two sides of the brain. [Another article discussing the ability to listen to two different things at once](http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/jul2007/nidcd-17.htm)points out something interesting about speech processing that would apply to the OP: > [@](#): > > Scientists believe that problems with dichotic listening ability are often due to a lesion or disconnect between the brain’s right and left hemispheres. When we listen to someone talking, speech entering the right ear travels in large part to the left side of the brain, where language is processed. Speech entering the left ear travels first to the right side of the brain before crossing to the brain’s language center on the left side by way of the corpus callosum, a pathway connecting the brain’s right and left hemispheres. ---
**Author:** ![Ornery\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@Ornery\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ornery_Bob)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-using-a-one-ear-phone-headset-does-ear-choice-affect-comprehension/734644/3 "2015-10-14T17:05:52Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-using-a-one-ear-phone-headset-does-ear-choice-affect-comprehension/734644/4 "2015-10-15T00:45:14Z")
This is a very cool thread. ---
**Author:** ![Supreme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Supreme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Supreme)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-using-a-one-ear-phone-headset-does-ear-choice-affect-comprehension/734644/5 "2015-10-15T07:27:05Z")
So thats why whenever I am using the phone on my left ear, I pay less attention and instinctively switch back to the right ear quickly after. Amazing. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-using-a-one-ear-phone-headset-does-ear-choice-affect-comprehension/734644/6 "2015-10-15T11:07:33Z")
There’s a large element of learning involved in this. Here is a thread from 2007 on topic: [Listening to something with left vs. right ear (neurological q.) - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=449533) ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-using-a-one-ear-phone-headset-does-ear-choice-affect-comprehension/734644/7 "2015-10-16T00:45:29Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > There’s a large element of learning involved in this. > > Here is a thread from 2007 on topic: [Listening to something with left vs. right ear (neurological q.) - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=449533) Two important points to bring over from that thread: 1. **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.”) 1. On 12/30/2007, 10:58 AM, **LSLGuy** wrote the following: …I used to be an airline pilot; flew Boeings for 15+ years. YIKES! What the hell? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-using-a-one-ear-phone-headset-does-ear-choice-affect-comprehension/734644/8 "2015-10-16T00:53:34Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > … > YIKES! What the hell? 🙂 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. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-using-a-one-ear-phone-headset-does-ear-choice-affect-comprehension/734644/9 "2015-10-16T01:04:26Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > …As I write this today I’m back in and expect to remain in… Whew! - _Al Pacino as LSLGuy, “Everytime I get out…”_ \* ---
**Author:** ![jsquire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@jsquire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsquire)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-using-a-one-ear-phone-headset-does-ear-choice-affect-comprehension/734644/10 "2015-10-16T01:12:05Z")
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.