How does sound “stop” when you’re about to fall asleep? I’ve been sleeping with a fan on due to the heat and I noticed as I fall asleep, it sort of “cuts off” and not fades to silence. What stops it?

Question

Title really. If it just me that experiences this then I’ll be amazed

In: 182

Answer 1

Ears convert soundwaves to a signal that your brain can read, and that is how you hear. When you sleep your brain turns off. This means two things:

1. Your brain is no longer actively handling the signal from your ears. You can think of your brain as an amplifier for the signal.

2. Your memory is also turned off. Everything that your brain handles involving sensory input is just not committed to memory, so you plainly can’t remember the fact that you heard the fan all night.