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Have you ever heard a sound, a voice, or even music that is not there? It is usually called Musical Ear Syndrome, or Phantom Auditory Experience. it is a condition where individuals hear music or sounds that aren't actually present, often linked to hearing loss and tinnitus. It is thought to be caused by hypersensitivity in the auditory cortex associated with sensory deprivation. In other words, the brain does not like too much silence, such as with people who live alone. Although the sounds can also be heard in background noises. When you hear something, you’re experiencing a combination of sound input, interpretations by your brain, and predictions by your brain. Strong sound input reduces the amount of predicting required by your brain. When you don’t get enough sound input, however, your brain has to do more predicting to make sense of the sound input it is receiving. The more severe the hearing loss, the more the auditory deprivation, and the greater the need for the brain to fill in the gaps. The most common hypothesis about what causes this syndrome is, in layman’s terms, that the brain gets bored through sensory deprivation and starts to generate sound by itself. Although people who experience this syndrome don't like to talk about it for fear of being labeled 'mentally ill', it is estimated that about 3 to 10% of the population is experiencing some form of Phantom Auditory Experience. I once met an older woman living alone in an apartment block. She complained that the owner had changed the plumbing underneath her apartment, causing loud thumbing at night, in an effort to drive her out of the apartment. She didn't realize that her brain was creating these sounds.
In my teens, once in a while, I would hear a radio station when half waking up in the morning. I would still be in a state of half awake, half asleep. Conscious but not fully awake. In that state I heard the presenter's voice and the popular songs, clear and in detail. I thought that my clock radio had gone on and was playing, only to discover, when fully waking up that this was not the case. There have been reports that go back to nearly a century of people claiming to pick up radio signals through their teeth. There are too many of those instances to ignore. It is thought that the metal fillings these people had acted as antennas and detectors, and under the right conditions, they picked up particularly strong radio waves. The radio waves would then make the fillings vibrate just enough so that the vibrations would pass through the skull, basically creating sound in the head. I had already several fillings in my late teens (that was in the 1970's), so maybe that was the reason I sometimes would pick up the radio station. Dental fillings were once an amalgam of mixed metals like tin, copper, and mercury. Today they are no longer used today due to health concerns. However, it is believed that those metal fillings can act as semiconductors to detect audio signals. But now, with more and more people getting composite fillings instead of metal (amalgam) ones, the number of instances of people hearing the radio through their teeth will decline significantly.
For years, I have heard a single electronic beep, or two beeps one after the other, about once or twice a year, always at night when in bed. I wondered what this could be. These beeps really sound electronic. Are they also generated by the brain, or is there an external, electronic source? It is known that microwaves can create sound experiences in the brain. There is even technology that can create voices in your head. A single or even two beeps does not seem to fit in the theory that the brain needs auditory stimulation, as I have enough of that in my daily life; and they are too short in duration to fill the need for that. Hearing one or multiple beeps is not talked about in the Musical Ear Syndrome literature. Yet, there are accounts of people, who do hear occasionally a single beep, or more than one beep. Maybe some of these experiences are indeed related to the brain's activity, while for other people there is an external stimulus. However, the strange thing is that the beep is not heard inside the head, but outside, a short or a longer distance. Here is a collection of people's experiences I found online. Just to show you that you are not alone if you hear a beep(s) too:
At Night I've heard beeps for years mostly before I go to sleep or about 2-3am I hear them and just shoot awake!! Heard one about an hour ago and shot awake, [spent 40 minutes then looking for something online about it and found this thread.] Wen I hear them before I go to sleep I tend to feel a pulse of a nerve in my head and then drop straight off??!! I don't have tinnitus btw.... (Above Top Secret)
I've experienced this in the past too, posted my experience on this site. Everyone that hasn't experienced it blames it on tinnitus or the smoke alarms (which I have, but weren't hooked up at the time). Everyone that has experienced it know it's something other than the simplistic answers offered up (and there are quite a few on this site). I heard three high toned beeps followed by three lower toned ones. When I got up to investigate, they went away as soon as I looked down the stairs. It was right as I was waking up in the morning. (Above Top Secret)
So last night, I was laying in bed around 11 pm, completely awake still. I did have the TV on. No cell phones were in the room with me and my husband. His tablet was next to the bed, but it was off and he doesn't get notification on it anyways. I heard what sounded like a notification sound of different beeping tones with about 4 or 5 beeps total. It was a sound I have never heard in my house and I'm sure it wasn't coming from the TV. We have a rather large room and it was coming from the sitting area of my room where we have a small gym set up. It sounded like someone was standing over there and their phone set off a notification. I got up to check and see if perhaps there was something over there that would make that sound, but there was nothing. Double checked our cell phones and they were all way outside of our room. I should also mention that we sleep with a fan on (a regular fan and a ceiling fan for added white noise) so there is no way I would have been able to hear a sound like that if it was coming from outside our door anyways. I got back in bed and sort of forgot about it as it didn't happen again, but for sure it was strange. So this morning when my son woke up, he said he heard a very strange sound in his room about 4 in the AM. He stays up very late so he was completely awake, not even in bed. I asked him what it was and he said it sounded like a phone notification, but it wasn't anything he had ever heard either. He even checked all the notifications on his phone and it could not be duplicated. When I asked him what it sounded like, I realized it was the same exact sound I had heard around 11 pm. We both only heard it once. I'm not sure I'm convinced it paranormal, but I will say we have had many strange things happen in our home over the years. What is also strange is that whenever something happens to me, I can almost guarantee that one of my two kids have had a similar experience that night. So this was in keeping with past occurrences, just strange that it was an electronic sound. ...Well, ghosts have both touched and talked to me in this house. I have also had many things moved, stove lights turned on, knocking on various doors in the house, etc. Too many things to list, really. The house is definitely very active. (Unexplained Mysteries)
When Awake About 2 days ago at 8 am I heard a very loud short fast beep only 1 time. I thought it was my smoke detector because I just moved into a new apartment but after I got home from work I ran it threw a test cycle it sounded nothing like that it was a completely different sound. My windows were closed to at the time and it sounded like it was in my room only thing is I just moved and I didn't have most of my stuff yet. I have not heard it since and still cant figure this one out. It scared the # out of me because I was sound asleep at the time to. I should point out I have no hearing problems. (Above Top Secret)
Here I thought it was just me. I've been hearing beeps once in awhile, but there's nothing that beeps like that in the house. No watches, cell phone is right here, wife's cell phone is accounted for, computer doesn't beep. I'm a computer, electronics, technology guy, and if there was something that beeped, I'd know about it. I've even looked for it, and nothing. Nada. Zilch as to what could be causing periodic random beeps. I just figured I was losing my mind, and kinda got used to the idea. (Above Top Secret)
I am in my bedroom, the only noise is the fan. I have my laptop on my
lap and my cell phone is lying on my left hand night table almost fully
charged (so its not a low battery indicator).
I have also heard weird beeps. It is actually not an unusual sound but just a typical electronic beep sound. I have not heard it often but it is very clear and I have nothing in the house that makes that sound. We have no smoke detectors as standard in our houses here. And there is no smoke detector in our house. I have no ear problems. (Above Top Secret)
I was shocked to see this thread! I too have heard beeps. I will stand at different parts of the living room trying to find where its coming from. But it's kinda like it moves. Never in the same place. I also will hear a vibration, just for a few seconds at a time. Like a cell phone but I will have my phone in my hand and I will text my family and they all have their phones with them. When I hear these beeps or vibrations they will happen 5 or 6 times over about 10 minutes. It's always when I'm alone that I hear these things. Has anyone else heard vibrations too, or am I just a nut case?? (Above Top Secret)
Yes!! This is it as well, it doesn't happen everyday just once or twice a week. I was actually going to see if I could start a post on this because it drives me up the wall. I thought maybe I was losing my hearing but it's not the sound of ringing in the ears which I do get due to scar tissue from nasty earaches I had a as a child! I have to get off and get some things done but maybe when I have more time later on today i will see what could be the source as i want it to stop, and just found it odd. BTW my kids have heard the same thing and have tried looking for the source as well. We have all except for my husband he won't tell me if he hears it or not, have heard at the same time as well, and have looked for the source, but have found nothing. Maybe I can use my cellphone and do a quick recording of the sound if I hear it again? and see what it may sound like on camera. otherwise I am stumped! (Above Top Secret)
Inside and Outside the House Nope, not smoke detectors. (I need to get one, just in case... I know. Responsible is NOT my middle name). Those things when the battery gets low LET YOU KNOW with a beep that's nothing like what I describe. What I hear is sometimes a low beep, once or twice... sometimes, it sounds like a watch, and it's always never trackable. It's almost like the time I lost my cellphone under the bed- the noise was never easily found, but it did it enough where I COULD eventually track it down. That's a sticking point of this thread- the beeping is so random, so occasional (weeks, months) that it's nearly impossible to find. I'd also like to add, I cleaned up where I am living, and I know there's nothing in here with batteries, no running watches besides mine, one functioning cellphone, and the others I have ended up with are in a pile, so I know where they are. The noise isn't confined to the house. I have heard it outdoors, too... (Above Top Secret)
I've been hearing beeps too. I've checked everything I own which can
produce a beeping noise. I still hear a beeping, which I can't place. My
smoke detector is powered not by batteries but by the power from my
building. Public housing is cheap as hell, but I really doubt beeping
noises come from my building. I've been wondering what it is, because I
sometimes hear it outside too.
I have had an ongoing, strange occurrence happening to me on and off for years. I hear beeping sounds that seem to come from somewhere nearby me and I do not know where the sounds are coming from. Here are some of the factors involved: - The beeps are like the sound of a digital wrist watch when it is set to chime at the top of the hour. - The beeping only happens when I am outside (never inside). - Usually only two beeps or a series of two beeps whenever it happens. - I am always alone when it happens. It tends to happen to me at night and especially if I am away from electronic or technological sources that could cause them. I don't carry anything with me that beeps or has the ability to beep. The most puzzling thing is that it tends to occur when I am out in nature away from any possible source for its sound. For instance, going on a hike in the woods by myself or stargazing in the middle of a large soccer field with nothing and no one around. The beeps will happen and it is like coming from somewhere very nearby, but no known cause. I am very observant and thoroughly check the entire area (including the sky and the ground around me). I've even had my ears checked by an Ears, Nose, and Throat specialist and all is good. This has happened to me dozens of times over the past seven years. (The Paracast)
A couple of weeks ago I heard a beeping sound in my room, it was a single beep that sounded like a digital watch I didn't think much of it, just thought it was something in my room, then I kept hearing it usually once a day at random. It's been getting worse now tho, in Walmart 2 days ago with my mom I heard it twice in a row and I was shocked, I asked my mom if she heard it and she said she was positive she didn't hear it. Today I've heard it multiple times in my room. (Reddit)
More than One Person at the Same time Interesting. I did have something like this happen to me years ago (about 8 years ago to be exact). It was about 11:30 at night here in Dallas. I was living in a two bedroom apartment with my wife. We had just gone to bed and were drifting into alpha sleep when I heard a 2 second beep at about 14KHz. I have tinnitus and have had it since I was very young. It is a side effect of my progressive hearing loss that my dad gave to me as a genetic gift. Anyway, I was struck by how clear and solid it was... no harmonics like I normally get with tinnitus. In addition it started and stopped very cleanly instead of fading off like the "ringing" normally does. I commented out loud, "that was strange". My wife turned to me and said, "you heard it too?" That caught me off guard. We turned on the light and started searching under the bed and around the bed for the source of the noise. Nothing in our room made a sound like that -- even the smoke detectors. We never did find the source of the sound and it never happened again. (Above Top Secret)
Other Strange Electronic Noises at Night At night i wear earplugs because of my husbands snoring. For the past few years i have heard beeps, knocking ( like at my bedroom door) my alarm, my phone ringing, and doorbells. These things sound loud and clear even though i have my earplugs in. So, this is not external, it's either a dream, or what? I don't know, I don't feel like I'm asleep when hearing these things. (Above Top Secret)
Sometimes between 3 and 6am, I am woken from my sleep by a weird electronic sound I can hear. It sounds kind of like a phone 'busy' tone but lower pitch, pulsing at around twice a second. It pulses for about 5 seconds then stops for another 5, and the sound doesn't change in amplitude or frequency no matter what room I'm in in my house. What's strangest to me is that whenever I try to record it, it stops. Anyone have anything similar going on? (Reddit)
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