eli5 how do auditory hallucinations happen?
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Pretend your ears unplug from your head, like you can take an electrical cord out of the wall. So you grab your ears, give them a firm tug and put them on the table in front of you.
Now think about your ear and brain in two parts.
The ear doesn’t understand the sounds, it has no brain, it just gives the sound signal to the brain.
The brain can’t hear anything right now (because it’s ears are on the table)…
But what CAN the brain do to “hear” sounds? It can imagine or remember them.
But how would it “hear” them?
I think a brain, with disconnected ears, would take the memory signal and route it to where the ears should connect and let the brain process the “sound” signal, even though the ears aren’t there.
Basically your brain can send memory audio signals back to it’s sound nerves and bypass/hijack where your ears connect to your brain.
Auditory hallucinations are a type of hallucination that involves hearing sounds or voices that are not actually present. They can occur in a range of mental health conditions, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and severe depression, as well as in drug-induced states, such as during the use of hallucinogenic drugs or in alcohol withdrawal.
The exact mechanisms of auditory hallucinations are not yet fully understood
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