Harsh Sounds

[Tarantism]

i noticed yesterday that after being awake all night my body seemed more sensative to outside noise. they seemed more shrill or harsh at times, while some higher frequencies began to give me a headache. has this happened to anyone else? do you know why this occurs?

[CraigD]

i noticed yesterday that after being awake all night my body seemed more sensative to outside noise. they seemed more shrill or harsh at times, while some higher frequencies began to give me a headache. has this happened to anyone else? do you know why this occurs?

I’ve had the same subjective feeling myself. I’ve sometimes felt as if my hearing was actually more sensitive, that is, that I could perceive sounds of lower pressures (decibels) of a given frequency than normally, but never put this to an objective test. It would be an easy experiment to do for anyone with a signal generator, headphones, and an assistant who understands basic experimental technique.

 

My guess is that the effect is psychological – that when you’re exhausted to that “beyond tired” state, your unconscious mind so badly wants to sleep that it expects the quiet we humans have for many millennia associated with bedtime.

 

However, it’s possible that the effect is actually physiological, and that our auditory senses are actually more sensitive when we’ve long been awake. Long periods of wakefulness are associated with accumulations of fluid in odd places – puffy eyes, swollen feet and fingers, and slight dehydration of other tissue. I’m suspicious that the fluid pressure in our inner ear may be slightly increased or decreased. Slight increases in inner ear pressure are thought to be one of several causes of “ringing in the ear” - tinnitus, which I recall sometimes experiencing after staying up all night, at the same time I feel a sense of heightened hearing.

[Turtle]

i noticed yesterday that after being awake all night my body seemed more sensative to outside noise. they seemed more shrill or harsh at times, while some higher frequencies began to give me a headache. has this happened to anyone else? do you know why this occurs?

 

I'll render some speculation along different lines than Craig's excellent reasoning. I posit that it has nothing to do with sleep deprivation, and everything to do with a prolonged exposure to relative silence.

People who normally sleep through the night have only a subconcious exposure to prolonged silence, while those awake have a concious exposure. Once a person is conditioned to the prolonged silence, the sudden onset of morning sounds is a startling contrast and kicks off the appropriate chemical cascades for "startling".B)

[Tarantism]

I’ve had the same subjective feeling myself. I’ve sometimes felt as if my hearing was actually more sensitive, that is, that I could perceive sounds of lower pressures (decibels) of a given frequency than normally, but never put this to an objective test. It would be an easy experiment to do for anyone with a signal generator, headphones, and an assistant who understands basic experimental technique.

 

yes, i sometimes feel like i can pick up frequencies to a different degree on both sides of the spectrum. that experiment may be worthwhile. i think ill look into getting a signal generator.

 

My guess is that the effect is psychological – that when you’re exhausted to that “beyond tired” state, your unconscious mind so badly wants to sleep that it expects the quiet we humans have for many millennia associated with bedtime.

 

i came up with an idea just now. what if it is realted to suvival? when we are tired i sometimes notice that my vision gets a little bit more clouded and my cogantive sense feels slower. perhaps our body realized that the mind is not working quite so quickly and so the senses get mildly hightened in an attempt to make up the difference. much like when someone goes blind or deaf, just to a lesser degree.

 

People who normally sleep through the night have only a subconcious exposure to prolonged silence, while those awake have a concious exposure. Once a person is conditioned to the prolonged silence, the sudden onset of morning sounds is a startling contrast and kicks off the appropriate chemical cascades for "statling".

 

much like having a neon light flash by your eyes and then closing them, and seeing the reflection on your eyelids?