Hearing

Auditory perception, or audition is the ability to perceive sound by detecting vibrations, and changes in the pressure of the surrounding medium through time, through an organ such as the ear. The sound may be heard through solid, liquid, or gaseous matter.

Hearing is performed primarily by the auditory system: mechanical waves, known as vibrations are detected by the ear and transduced into nerve impulses that are perceived by the brain (primarily in the temporal lobe). Like touch, audition requires sensitivity to the movement of molecules in the world outside the organism. Both hearing and touch are types of mechanosensation.

Hearing loss

see Hearing preservation.