Listening with Two Ears

Abstract

Why do people have two ears? We can, after all, make sense of sounds quite well with a single ear. One task, however, requires input from both organs: pinpointing the exact direction from which a sound, such as the cry of a baby or the growl of a dog, is emanating. In a process called binaural fusion, the brain compares information received from each ear and then translates the differences into a unified perception of a single sound issuing from a specific region of space.

Additional details