eli5: Why are your ears more sensitive at night?

485 views

Why do louder volumes hurt your ears less during the day than they do at night? For example I can have my headphone volume at about 7/10 and my ears feel comfortable, however the same volume at night not only sounds louder but makes it uncomfortable to listen to, so I have to turn it to 3/10 which makes it more comfortable.

In: Biology

3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

It’s a psychoacoustic thing. It’s actually your brain that is just tired and over-stimulated.

Also one would expect Home to be relaxing and quiet, whereas one expects outdoor/city life to be louder so you brain does a bit of volume control when it expects loud sounds, and it lets up on that a bit when it doesn’t expect loud sound.

You are viewing 1 out of 3 answers, click here to view all answers.