The Audra journal
Notes on the practice.
Field notes, guides, and the thinking behind Audra.
Latest · 6 min read
Why Does One Ear Suddenly Ring for a Few Seconds? Fleeting Tinnitus, Explained
Sudden ringing in one ear for a few seconds is one of hearing's strangest glitches. Here's what fleeting tinnitus is, why it's usually harmless, and when to pay attention.
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More from the journal
- 02
Can Earwax Cause Hearing Loss and Tinnitus? The Blocked Ear, Explained
Can earwax cause hearing loss? Yes — and it's the one kind that's fully reversible. How a blocked ear muffles the world, why it rings, and how to clear it safely.
2026-07-13
6 min read
- 03
Why Do Chewing Sounds Make Me Angry? The Science of Misophonia
Why do chewing sounds make me angry? Misophonia isn't pickiness — it's a brain circuit misfiring on specific sounds. The real science, and what actually helps.
2026-07-12
7 min read
- 04
Why Does Tinnitus Get Worse With Stress? The Limbic Loop Explained
Why does tinnitus get worse with stress? The ringing isn't louder — your brain's threat system is turning up its priority. Here's the limbic loop, explained.
2026-07-11
7 min read
- 05
The Right-Ear Advantage: Why You Understand Speech Better in One Ear
Why do I hear better in my right ear? The right-ear advantage and dichotic listening explain why your brain routes speech to one side — and what it means for your hearing.
2026-07-11
7 min read
- 06
Why Don't You Hear Echoes Indoors? The Precedence Effect Explained
Every room echoes, but you don't hear echoes indoors — your brain deletes them. Inside the precedence effect, and what it means when rooms start winning.
2026-07-10
7 min read
- 07
Why Does Noise Wake Me Up but Not My Partner? Sleep Spindles, Explained
Why does noise wake me up but not my partner? A brief burst of brain rhythm called a sleep spindle decides who hears the 3 a.m. door — and who sleeps through it.
2026-07-10
7 min read
- 08
Why Do I Talk Louder in Noisy Places? The Lombard Effect, Explained
Why do I talk louder in noisy places? The Lombard effect hijacks your voice before you notice — and how loudly you speak quietly reveals what your ears are doing.
2026-07-10
7 min read
- 09
Why Do My Ears Pop on a Plane? The Eustachian Tube, Explained
Why do my ears pop on a plane? A tiny muscle-controlled tube behind your nose equalizes pressure every time you swallow — and when it fails, the world goes quiet.
2026-07-09
7 min read
- 10
Why Do I Hear My Heartbeat in My Ear? Pulsatile Tinnitus, Explained
Pulsatile tinnitus — hearing your own heartbeat in your ear — isn't a phantom sound. It's a real noise your body makes, and the reason you suddenly notice it matters.
2026-07-09
7 min read
- 11
Why Can You Hear a Whisper Across a Quiet Room? The Cochlear Amplifier Explained
The cochlear amplifier is why you can hear a pin drop — tiny outer hair cells that dance to amplify faint sound. Here's how it works and why it's so fragile.
2026-07-08
7 min read
- 12
Do Your Ears Make Their Own Sound? Otoacoustic Emissions Explained
Otoacoustic emissions explained: why healthy ears quietly emit sound of their own, what outer hair cells are doing, and how that faint hum reveals hearing health.
2026-07-08
7 min read
- 13
Why Your Tinnitus Goes Quiet Right After a Noise Stops: Residual Inhibition Explained
Residual inhibition is why tinnitus briefly fades after a shower, a fan, or a hum. Here's the science of that quiet window—and why it matters for sound enrichment.
2026-07-07
7 min read
- 14
Why Do Some Sounds Seem Louder Than Others at the Same Volume? Equal-Loudness Contours Explained
Why do some sounds seem louder than others even at the same volume? Equal-loudness contours reveal how your ear tunes itself to certain pitches — and why bass vanishes when you turn the music down.
2026-07-07
6 min read
- 15
Why Hearing Loss Sneaks Up on You: The Slow Slope Your Brain Hides
Wondering why hearing loss is so gradual you never notice it happening? The slow slope, sensory adaptation, and the brain's gap-filling explain why others notice first.
2026-07-06
6 min read
- 16
Is Tinnitus in Your Ears or Your Brain? The Central Gain Explanation
Is tinnitus in the ears or the brain? The phantom ringing often starts as hearing loss but is generated centrally. How central gain turns silence into sound.
2026-07-06
6 min read
- 17
Why Loud Sounds Don't Instantly Deafen You: The Acoustic Reflex Explained
The acoustic reflex is a muscle inside your ear that braces against loud sound in milliseconds. Here's how it protects your hearing—and the sudden noises it can't stop in time.
2026-07-05
7 min read
- 18
Why a Soft Sound Vanishes Next to a Louder One: Auditory Masking Explained
Auditory masking is why a whisper disappears under running water and why MP3s work. Here's how one sound hides another inside your cochlea—and what it reveals about your hearing.
2026-07-05
7 min read
- 19
Why Your Recorded Voice Sounds Wrong: The Science of Bone Conduction
Why does my recorded voice sound different and higher than the voice in my head? The answer is bone conduction — how your skull adds bass only you can hear.
2026-07-04
7 min read
- 20
Why Small Speakers Still Sound Full: The Missing Fundamental Explained
Why small speakers produce bass you can hear but they can't play: the missing fundamental, how your brain builds pitch from harmonics, and what it says about hearing.
2026-07-04
6 min read
- 21
Why Everyday Sounds Feel Too Loud: Hyperacusis and the Brain's Volume Knob
Wondering why everyday sounds feel too loud? Hyperacusis isn't oversensitive ears — it's central gain, the brain turning up its own volume knob. Here's the science.
2026-07-03
7 min read
- 22
How Loud Is Too Loud? The Noise Dose Your Ears Are Quietly Keeping
How loud is too loud for your ears? Hearing damage isn't about one deafening moment — it's a running dose of volume times time. Here's the science of your daily noise budget.
2026-07-03
7 min read
- 23
Why Can't I Hear High-Pitched Sounds? The Cochlea's Fragile Edge
Why can't I hear high-pitched sounds anymore? The birdsong, the kettle, the letter 's' — high frequencies fade first because of where and how the cochlea gets damaged.
2026-07-02
7 min read
- 24
Why You Can't Tell Where a Sound Is Coming From: The Science of Sound Localization
Struggling to tell where a sound is coming from? Learn how your brain locates sound using two ears, and why hearing loss in one ear blurs your sense of direction.
2026-06-27
7 min read
- 25
Hidden Hearing Loss: Why You Can Pass a Hearing Test and Still Struggle
Hidden hearing loss explains why a normal audiogram can miss real trouble. Learn what cochlear synaptopathy is, why noise damages the nerve before the threshold, and what to track.
2026-06-27
7 min read
- 26
Why Your Tinnitus Changes When You Clench Your Jaw: Somatic Modulation Explained
If clenching your jaw or turning your neck changes your tinnitus, that's somatosensory modulation. Here's why your tinnitus reacts to movement—and what it tells you.
2026-06-26
7 min read
- 27
Why Music Sounds Out of Tune in One Ear: Diplacusis Explained
Why does music sound out of tune in one ear? Diplacusis is when each ear hears the same note at a different pitch — here's the cochlear science behind the off-key feeling.
2026-06-26
7 min read
- 28
Why Is My Tinnitus Worse at Night? The Silence Paradox Explained
Wondering why is my tinnitus worse at night? Learn how the brain's gain control turns up the volume in silence — and why quiet makes ringing louder, not calmer.
2026-06-24
7 min read
- 29
Why Does My Tinnitus Have a Pitch? The Hearing-Loss Edge Explained
Why does my tinnitus have a specific pitch? It usually sits right at the edge of your hearing loss. Here's the brain science behind the tone, and what it reveals.
2026-06-24
7 min read
- 30
Why You Can't Hear in Noisy Restaurants: The Cocktail Party Problem
Why can't I hear in noisy restaurants even when my hearing seems fine? The cocktail party problem explained — how your brain separates voices from noise, and why it fails.
2026-06-23
7 min read
- 31
Why You Can Hear but Not Understand Speech: The Consonant Problem
Why can you hear but not understand speech? The answer is high-frequency hearing loss eating the quiet consonants that carry meaning. Here's the science.
2026-06-23
6 min read
- 32
Why You Stop Hearing Constant Sounds: The Science of Auditory Habituation
Ever wonder why you stop hearing constant background noise like the fridge or a fan? Auditory habituation explains how your brain filters steady sound—and why it matters for tinnitus.
2026-06-22
6 min read
- 33
Why You Hear Better When You Can See Someone's Face: The Science of Visual Speech
Why you hear better when you can see someone's face: how lip-reading, the McGurk effect, and audiovisual speech perception let your eyes fill in what your ears miss.
2026-06-22
7 min read
- 34
Why Your Ears Feel Muffled After a Concert: Temporary Threshold Shift Explained
Ears muffled after a concert? That cotton-wool feeling is temporary threshold shift — here's what's happening inside your cochlea and when to worry.
2026-06-21
6 min read
- 35
Loudness Recruitment: Why Soft Sounds Vanish but Loud Sounds Suddenly Hurt
Loudness recruitment explains why people with hearing loss miss quiet speech yet flinch at loud sounds. Learn the cochlear mechanism behind it and what it means for your ears.
2026-06-21
7 min read
- 36
Listening Fatigue: Why Straining to Hear Leaves You Exhausted
Listening fatigue is real: when hearing dips, your brain works overtime to decode sound. Here's the science of effortful listening—and why exhaustion is a clue.
2026-06-18
7 min read