[Column] The miracle of listening: the future of "sound" envisioned by the Hearing Health Foundation

Column en Ambient History

13 Oct 2025

[Column] The miracle of listening: the future of

Introduction: Poetics of the sense of hearing

Text: mmr

Theme: The ear is a small universe. Explore the mysteries and future of the act of “listening” through HHF’s activities that support hearing research, prevention, and regeneration.

“Silence is the most important part of music” — Miles Davis

The ear is not just an organ for picking up sound. It is a “poetic device” for carrying memories and connecting with the world.

Hearing Health Foundation (HHF) works to protect and restore this “ability to listen.” As the largest hearing and balance research fund in the United States, they support everything from investigating the causes of hearing loss and tinnitus to the forefront of regenerative medicine and gene therapy.

1. The science of listening: the universe inside your ears

“Sound makes the air tremble and the heart tremble.” — Brian Eno

Sound picked up by the outer ear vibrates the eardrum, passes through the auditory ossicles and reaches the cochlea. Hair cells in the inner ear convert these vibrations into electrical signals, which the brain recognizes as “sound.” The HHF website provides an easy-to-understand explanation of the mechanisms of sensorineural hearing loss, Meniere’s disease, and hyperacusis caused by breakdowns in this delicate system.

Sound collected in the outer ear travels through the eardrum to the ossicles in the middle ear, and then to the cochlea in the inner ear. From there, it is converted into an electrical signal and sent to the brain stem and auditory cortex via the auditory nerve. Listening to sound is truly the “music of life,” involving everything from physical phenomena to neurological and cognitive processes.

2. Landscape of hearing impairment ─ Rhythm in silence

Singer Grimes continues to create music despite suffering from tinnitus. “There is order even in the noise,” she says. Hearing loss may be a process of “reconstruction” rather than loss.

HHF continues to support research into tinnitus and balance disorders. The scope of this research is not limited to simple medical research, but also extends to the field of neuroscience, which elucidates the interaction between hearing and the brain.

3. The science of regeneration – the dream of bringing back sound

“The ear is a circuit, and music is an electric current.” — Ryuichi Sakamoto

The HHF-supported Hearing Restoration Project (HRP) Research on cell therapy and gene therapy to regenerate lost hair cells is progressing. This is an experiment in the future that will make the recovery of “listening” a reality.

Technological innovations in cochlear implants and new hearing aids are also remarkable. From “amplifying sound” to “delivering it directly to the brain”. In the field of sound design, research on “auditory UI” using brain waves is accelerating.

▶︎ Diagram: Auditory signal pathway (from sound waves to auditory cortex)

sequenceDiagram participant Sound as 音波（空気の振動） participant Outer as 外耳 participant Middle as 中耳 participant Inner as 内耳（蝸牛） participant Hair as 有毛細胞 participant Nerve as 蝸牛神経 participant Brainstem as 脳幹（上オリーブ核など） participant Midbrain as 下丘（Inferior colliculus） participant Thalamus as 視床（MGN） participant Cortex as 聴覚野（側頭葉） Sound->>Outer: 音波を集める Outer->>Middle: 鼓膜へ伝達 Middle->>Inner: 耳小骨で増幅 Inner->>Hair: コルチ器が振動を電気信号に Hair->>Nerve: 神経発火 Nerve->>Brainstem: 一次信号到達 Brainstem->>Midbrain: 音源定位 Midbrain->>Thalamus: 時間周波数解析 Thalamus->>Cortex: 音の意味を認識 Note over Cortex: 記憶・感情と連携する高次処理

Simple version

A diagram that follows the time series of sound waves from when they enter the ear until they are given meaning in the cerebral cortex. The brainstem, inferior colliculus, and thalamus (MGN) perform relay and preprocessing, and the information is finally recognized and interpreted in the auditory cortex. Attention, memory, and emotional circuits influence this process.

This route is an “auditory journey.” The physical tremors in the air eventually sublimate into “music” connected to emotions and memories. Research on the complex hierarchical structure is also applied to the design of speech recognition models for artificial intelligence.

4. Between Noise and Silence: A Cultural Theory of Prevention

The loud sounds of rock concerts, the excessive use of earphones, and the noise of the city. These can be called modern-day “aural pollution.” HHF’s campaign #KeepListening is a social movement that reconsiders the relationship between volume and distance.

In fact, David Bowie was very concerned about his ear health. During the tour, the stage monitor volume was set to half the normal volume. Protecting your hearing is also a form of “artistic self-care” that allows you to continue expressing yourself for a long time.

5. The fate of musicians and the ear: “Cultural history of hearing” interpreted through anecdotes

Beethoven: Completed the Ninth in the despair of hearing loss.
Pete Townshend (The Who): Lost his hearing due to the loud noise of a live performance and started campaigning to raise awareness of hearing protection.
Phil Collins: Toured despite having hearing loss in one ear.
Radiohead’s Thom Yorke: Despite suffering from tinnitus, he sublimated his “inner sounds” into songs.

These anecdotes show that the music doesn’t end even if your ears are damaged. HHF’s philosophy also provides scientific support for its spirit.

6. Society and support: a community that creates the future of the ear

HHF fosters cultural literacy in hearing health through donations, research grants, and education. For example, the Emerging Research Grants winners selected each year are: From gene editing to artificial intelligence, he depicts the “future of listening” from a variety of angles.

In addition, in the online magazine for the general public, Hearing Health Magazine, It features actual experiences and columns from experts, and proposes ear health as a lifestyle.

7. Conclusion: The future of listening

“Music is the art of listening, and listening is living.” — John Cage

The science of hearing is also the science of our sensibilities. The reproduction of sound may be the ““reproduction of human existence.’’ The Hearing Health Foundation’s activities transcend the boundaries between medicine and art. It quietly illuminates the future of the culture surrounding “listening.”